The New ‘Mulan’ Is Free On Disney+ Now & Everyone’s Joking About When It Was $30
Disney fans, your wallets can breathe easier. Disney+'s Mulan remake is free to stream now after originally costing an additional $30 on the site. "Now included with your Disney+ subscription, Mulan is a legendary pick for your next movie night," the streaming service wrote in an email to subscribers on Friday, Dec. 4.
The live-action Mulan aims to more closely follow the original Chinese legend on which the 1998 animated film is based, swapping out music numbers and Mushu for martial arts action and mythology. It was originally supposed to hit theaters in March, before getting delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
With many theaters still closed, Disney ultimately decided to release the film on Disney+ in September, with one major catch — viewers had to pay an additional $29.99 to watch it, on top of the $6.99/month that subscribers pay to access the site in the first place. The streamer described the extra cost as a new feature called Premier Access, in which fans can pay to watch a new movie that will eventually stream for free.
It's worth noting that most PVOD (Paid-Video-On-Demand) releases cost around $19.99, and paying $30 to watch a movie on streaming is significantly less than a family of four would spend to see it in a theater. Still, now that Mulan is streaming for free just three months after its release, some fans are joking about people's decision to pay for it in the first place.
The news that Mulan is now free on Disney+ came just a day after Warner Bros. announced that its entire 2021 movie lineup would debut on HBO Max on the same day they were released in theaters. That means that major blockbusters like Dune and The Suicide Squad will hit the streamer at no additional cost, sparking even more tweets about some viewers paying extra to watch Mulan.
However, it seems like Disney's decision to charge extra for Mulan really was a one-off decision. Back in October, the company announced that the upcoming Pixar film Soul would hit Disney+ on Christmas Day, free of charge. Regardless of whether or not you paid $30 to watch Mulan, all movie fans will have to expect the unexpected as this unusual time continues.
