Streaming service Disney+ has gained 28.6 million subscribers in only its first three months. The relatively new streamer, which Disney launched on November 12 of last year, gained 10 million subscribers in its first day. A lot of Disney+’s success can be attributed to the overwhelming popularity of Star Wars. The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television show of its kind, launched with Disney+.
It’s not unfair to say that a lot of Star Wars fans purchased a Disney+ subscription just for The Mandalorian. Disney’s $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 has brought a lot of attention to the conglomerate which owns a handful of other well-known studios and properties. On top of its classic Disney and Pixar titles, Disney+ features Marvel and Star Wars movies. Capitalizing on this, Disney is developing two other Star Wars shows and a plethora of Marvel ones that take place within their already established Marvel Cinematic Universe. All of this, compiled with the studios they bought from Fox (and all of those titles), will inevitably flood Disney+ with content in the coming years.
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger discussed Disney+’s momentum in an earnings call Tuesday. He confirmed that Disney+ had 28.6 million subscribers throughout the U.S., Canada, Netherlands, and New Zealand as of February 3. In contrast, Netflix has roughly 167 million subscribers worldwide and 61 million in the U.S. alone. Given the strong initial showing for their streaming service, Iger said that Disney+ would remain a top priority for his company moving forward. This, of course, means that shows like The Mandalorian remain a top priority as well, having begun its production of season two before season one was even released.
The increasingly formidable Disney+ is turning out to be a massive win for Disney. Its impressive lineup (with already proven fan bases) will keep the subscribers it already has while continuing to intrigue new ones. As Disney continues to expand its Marvel universe (Fox characters included), fans will inevitably flock to Disney+ for those films and television shows. Popular culture will remain on its side as they introduce popular characters like Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian. Disney’s only concern might surround the idea of exhausting the franchises they have; however, being that they seem to own so many, that shouldn’t be a problem.
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Source: Disney
