Disney Plus may soon have enough Star Wars to make you love it again
They’ll use the Force
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Disney Plus is about to get some freshStar Warscontent and it could not come soon enough.
Since its launch almost three years ago,Disney Plushas enjoyed a meteoric rise in subscribers (topping out atroughly 164.2M) numbers right up until this most recent quarter when the service suffered a surprisingdrop of almost 3 million subscribers. The cause? It might be the skyrocketing subscription price which now sits at $10.99 / £7.99 / AU$13.99 per month or, in the US, that you must suffer through ads if you want to pay just $7.99 a month, a number that happens to be considerably more expensive than the original $4.99 a month launch price.
It could also be the content. There hasn’t been much newMarvelcontent of late, though that could change soon with theSecret Invasionseries andGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3(after it finishes its theatrical run) coming to the streaming platform in the first half of this year. It might also be the somewhat lackluster Star Wars lineup.Obi-Wanwasn’t a sensation and few are cheering the third season ofThe Mandalorian.
The good news is that we now know about some brand new Star Wars franchise content heading to Disney Plus as soon as this August.
AtStar Wars Celebration Europe, which is currently underway in the UK, the Lucas Films panel delivered the first trailer for its newAhsokaseries (aThe Mandolorianspin-off). Rosario Dawson returns as the titular Jedi in a live-action series that is set to launch on Disney Plus in August.
For what it’s worth, the series looks like it’s stuffed full of Jedi warrior action.
In fact, the Disney Plus slate could be full of Star Wars content through 2025.
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Andor,a far more well-received series that traced the events leading up to Cassian Jeron Andor’s involvement with stealing the Death Star plans, revealed that shooting for season two is well underway and that the new season should arrive in August 2024.
Also set for 2024 isThe Acolytewhich apparently features a Jedi Wookie performed by Joonas Suotamo, the same actor who has played Chewbacca inSolo,The Rise of Skywalker,andThe Last Jedi.
Star Wars Celebration also teased Jude Law’sSkeleton Crewbut offered no release date.
Down the line, there are now at least three more live-action movies planned - all of which will eventually end up on the streaming platform - including one starring Daisy Ridley, reprising her role as Rey. This time, though, she’ll be 15 years older and training young Jedi Padawans.
While there’s always a chance these release dates could change, the news is generally good for consumers trying to decide if they should stay on Disney Plus or drop the streamer in favor of another platform with a richer content offering.
Obviously, ifAhsoka, for instance, doesn’t rise toAndorstandards (or even the bar set withThe Mandalorian’sfirst season) andSecret Invasionis a dud, Disney Plus, which has more than doubled in price since its launch, could see more subscribers leave. Or perhaps current premium subscribers will opt for Disney Plus Basic, the $7.99 commercial-supported option thatRoku just addedto its streaming platform.
Whatever the case, Disney’s subscriber travails are part of a larger streaming trend. A recentPark Associates studyfound that half of all over-the-top (OTT) service subscribers switch services multiple times in the year based on content.
In other words, having the right mix, the right number, and the best content at any given time is critical if a streamer hopes to triumph in what is obviously an entertainment true arms race. After a strong start, Disney Plus clearly slipped a bit behind whileNetflix has been surging for the last six monthsor so. No streamer can afford to let up or pull back on content investment, even as most of them are facing tougher economic times.
Even the giant Disney has been forced tolay off thousandsbut it clearly does not want evidence of that belt-tightening to trickle down to production across its various franchises. If it did, Disney Plus would soon see fewer fresh movies and TV shows and subscribers would start heading for the exits.
A 38-year industry veteran andaward-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.
Lance Ulanoffmakes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, theToday Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.
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