Disney’s Early Release Of ‘Frozen 2’ And ‘Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker’ Is A Clever Distraction From Bad News
15 March 2020
Scott Mendelson
Frozen II goes to Disney+ months ahead of schedule, while Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker goes on sale days early, both of which allow Disney to distract the media, play the hero and further highlight Disney+.
Walt Disney has dropped the blockbuster Frozen II onto their streaming service just weeks after debuting on “electronic sell-through” and “VOD” platforms, as well as physical formats (DVD, Blu-ray, 4K HD, etc.). It was not supposed to premiere on Disney+ until June, but the Mouse House announced, with much fanfare, that it would drop the title on the service this morning, just one week shy of the film’s November 22, 2019 theatrical opening day. Oh, and they also let folks buy (in digital formats) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Friday night as well, days ahead of the intended March 17 launch date. It’s being sold by Disney as a mitzvah, which I suppose it is. But it also is a smart business decision and an excellent distraction from Disney’s recent woes.
This has no impact on the conventional theatrical window. Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck’s Frozen II opened before Thanksgiving and earned a whopping $477 million domestic from a $130 million debut and $1.449 billion worldwide. Its arrival on DVD/Blu went according to plan. The “paid” post-theatrical window took it on the chin, not unlike the many indie flicks that seem to pop up on Amazon Prime and Hulu just months after leaving theaters. J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker opened in theaters three months ago this coming Thursday, after earning $515 million domestic (and $1.073 billion worldwide) from a $177 million opening weekend. Ditto The Last Jedi (which earned 2.8x its $220 million opening weekend for a $620 million domestic/$1.333 billion global cume) which debuted on digital HD on March 17, 2018.
While the Walt Disney press release that went out on Friday evening made no mention of the coronavirus, the official spiel, selling the release as “surprising families with some fun and joy during this challenging period” made little effort to hide the motivations. Oddly enough, the early release for Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver’s Rise of Skywalker occurred with no official fanfare, but social media and the blogsphere took care of that for them. The release of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel’s Frozen II is especially canny. It pushes a positive Disney news story into the media cycle. It paints the company as being benevolent. It further paints Disney+ as a must-have streaming platform for families whose kids won’t be in school for the next few weeks or months. Yes, Malibu Stacey DOES have a new hat.
This high-profile decision costs Disney absolutely nothing in terms of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revenue (since it’s not free) and an unknown amount in terms of Disney+ subscribers who otherwise might have purchased or rented the Frozen sequel between now and June. I imagine the physical media die-hards have already made their Frozen II purchases. Moreover, I’d argue that the lost sales and rental income is justified by the flurry of positive press and the potential for new subscribers as families nationwide adjust to what could be a “new normal” for the near future. Yes, it absolutely is a nice thing for Disney to do even if there is a mercenary benefit. However, the Frozen II and Star Wars Episode IX news means we aren’t talking about some less pleasant Walt Disney stories.
This article was first published here.