‘Elemental’ was released on Disney+ and landed a spot in one of the “Top 10 movie premieres of all time” on the service. Disney announced similar accolades for their “The Little Mermaid” release to Disney+. While that is great for numbers, does it equate to more money? Or, is the streaming service eating into theatrical release dollars?
In a recent press release, Disney claimed that ‘Elemental’ earned 26.4 million views in the first five days it was on the Disney+ streaming platform. This comes about a week after another press release was issued about ‘The Little Mermaid’ being one of the top premieres with 16 million views in its first five days of streaming.
We do not know how much watch time a “view” equals. Nor do we know if either film created revenue by adding Disney+ subscribers. If it’s all just watched by current subscribers, that might be great for views, but it has no added profit unless it was heavily monetized by advertising revenue on accounts that allow ads.
According to the Disney press release, “The Little Mermaid” did about $570 million at the global box office, which is far under what Disney likely expected. “Elemental” started out terrible but did better overseas, ending at about $478 million, with South Korea being one of its largest global audiences.
Neither film performed exceedingly well theatrically. This leads us to a core issue. Customers may be foregoing the box office to watch the films on Disney+. While some may be watching it again on the streaming service, it’s likely many are simply waiting for the content to come with their subscription and be included in their monthly fee. Disney+ could be hurting the box office performances of these films.
While true that both films took far longer to release on Disney+ than other films in the last couple of years, people seem like they are fine with waiting to save money. Or perhaps they simply prefer the experience of staying home to watch a film instead of going to the theater? Who knows, but it could indicate an issue for Disney when it comes to the box office.
While it is great to hear that “Elemental” hit 26.4 million views, investors will likely want to know how much money it brought on Disney+. How many new subscribers were added as a result of this film? How much advertising money was made on basic ad-supported accounts?
If it didn’t perform well financially, is this something Disney needs to rethink moving forward to save their box office totals?
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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