Disney’s Mulan was one of the first movies to have its theatrical release delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, five months later, the film is finally getting released, but it won’t be arriving in theaters in the United States. Instead, Disney+ will be offering Mulan as an additional premium VOD purchase through their new “Premier Access” section this week. This has rubbed some fans the wrong way since they’re already paying a monthly subscription to Disney+ to begin with, but it sounds like they might not have to wait too long before they can watch the movie on Disney+ without an additional cost.

Over the weekend, Disney+ put up the following pre-order page for the upcoming release of Mulan on September 4:

If you look at the text at the bottom of the pre-order page, which has since been taken down (via ScreenRant), it says, “Watch before its release to all Disney+ subscribers on December 4, 2020.” The page touts the Premier Access release of Mulan on Disney+ as a way for fans to see it as soon as possible instead of waiting until later this year.

Though that strategy makes sense as a way to entice viewers to be among the first to see Mulan, it could very well do the opposite and convince people to hold off until December to see the movie when it won’t cost them an extra $29.99. Then again, if it hits Disney+ in December, there could be an uptick in subscriptions, especially leading up to Christmas. But a December release on Disney+ feels like it would undercut a home video release of the movie, which would surely be an enticing Christmas present when the holidays come around.

Mulan arriving on Disney+ in December would be a slight change of pace for the window between a film’s initial release and its arrival on Disney+. This year, Frozen II would have arrived on Disney+ in June this year, roughly six months after the movie hit theaters. It was bumped up to an earlier debut in March as Disney attempted to help those at home in quarantine with a little extra entertainment for the kids. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrived on May 4 for Star Wars Day, a little less than five months after hitting theaters. But if the December date holds true, then Mulan will arrive just three months after it hits premium VOD.

The Mulan Disney+ release date hasn’t been confirmed by Disney, and there’s always a chance this was a placeholder date for when the movie would have arrived on Disney+ if it had been released when it was previously slated to hit theaters in July after being delayed in March. We’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

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