Walt Disney is preparing a dramatic reorganization of its Disney + streaming service, bringing 75 new series and 270 blockbusters under the new star banner aimed at a more mature audience. While it’s true that Disney + isn’t short on content, it has released every entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pixar, Disney Animation, and Star Wars films since its launch, not to mention original series like The Mandalorian and exclusive movie releases like Soul and Mulan and National Geographic documentary series. Still, Disney + had no real answer to the blatant crime documentaries and mature dramas like Night Stalker, Bridgerton, The Boys, and Mindhunter that have made Netflix and Prime Video subscriptions a necessity.
Star’s arrival aims to fix just that. Of course, Disney has to be careful – the company is primarily known for its family-friendly entertainment, so the introduction of Die Hard’s bloodthirsty shootings into the mix could upset some parents and guardians. To avoid disruption, Disney requires account holders to set up a two-tier parental control system that sets age rating limits for each profile, as well as pen protection.
Account holders who have not yet gone through this process are limited to more than 14 restrictions by default.
Better still, Disney has confirmed that more mature shows won’t even appear in search or preview for accounts with these restrictions. This way, younger viewers will not know that they are missing out on shows and films that are available in other PIN-restricted profiles on the same Disney + account. With Disney +, up to seven profiles can be assigned to one account. Four devices can stream at the same time.
When Star lands on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, it will single-handedly double the amount of content available on Disney +. In addition to the 75 new shows (often with multiple seasons), more than 270 films and four exclusive new shows, Disney has promised to add new titles to the program every month.
Subscribers are familiar with the Netflix rival’s current silos, including Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic, and Disney. Star will complement this as the sixth tile in the main Disney + menu and include shows for a more mature audience such as Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Grey’s Anatomy, 24, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Family Guy, as well as films like The Favorit, Die Hard 2, Drei Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri and Bad Times at El Royale.
Original shows exclusively available from Star include visionary storyteller David E. Kelley’s crime thriller Big Sky (Big Little Lies, The Undoing), Love, Simon’s spin-off series Love, Victor, written by the film’s original authors, Isaac Aptaker, and Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us), and the animated adult sitcom Solar Opposites co-created by Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty) and Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty’s assistant to ex-writer) and the Helstrom drama series which was produced by Paul Zbyszewski as Executive Producer with Karim Zreik and Jeph Loeb.
These four shows, not available anywhere else, belong to award-winning films like The Grand Budapest Hotel and classics like Pretty Woman, Die Hard 2, The Devil Wears Prada, and Moulin Rouge.
Jan Koeppen, President of the Walt Disney Company EMEA, said, “Star will be an integral part of Disney +, making it bigger, bolder and more exciting. The arrival of hundreds of TV series and films, including our exclusive Star Originals, makes Disney + the premier destination for quality entertainment with something for everyone. Of course, all of this is linked to a child safety device to give parents this security. “
Star viewers can also benefit from all of the features built into Disney +, including GroupWatch, which allows you to sync your episode with friends and respond with a range of different emojis – such as “funny”, “sad”, “angry”. , “afraid” and “surprised”. These can be sent on a smartphone while your Smart TV is synchronized with up to seven other friends.
Disney + is already available on a dizzying array of platforms, from iPhone to Android, Samsung Smart TVs to game consoles, Fire TV to Roku. Sky Q set-top boxes also have a special app and customers can pay for a subscription to the video-on-demand service on their monthly Sky TV bill.
Walt Disney is likely hoping Star will make Disney + a must-see for families of all ages – not just families with younger viewers. The first original Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, was very successful with audiences of all ages. However, it will be some time before new seasons of this show (and the myriad other original shows set in the Pipes and Marvel universes) take place – partly due to the filming delays caused by the pandemic and partly due to the fact that Disney + has not been operational since Prime Video and Netflix.
Despite this, Disney + was able to win the largest proportion of new streaming subscribers in the UK last year, with 38 percent of all new customers, while Prime Video took a quarter and Netflix 19 percent.
Unfortunately, with the arrival of these new shows and movies, Disney + is set to increase its costs. Those who sign up after February 23 will have to cough up £ 7.99 per month – a price increase of £ 2 compared to the monthly subscription cost of £ 5.99 since Disney + launched in the UK on March 24, 2020.
Fortunately, Disney has confirmed that anyone who already has a subscription to Disney + will continue to be charged the existing monthly fee of £ 5.99 for an additional six months. While those who first sign up for Disney + on February 23 will have to pay £ 7.99 per month, those who already have an account will not have to pay that amount until August 23, 2021.
Disney has spiced up its plans for the next year, which already include a slew of shows in the Marvel and Star Wars universes, and confirmed that new series will premiere in 2021 Dopesick with Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson, The dropout faced before SNL Star Kate Mckinnon, not to mention a list of FX Originals, including The old man with Jeff Bridges and new content from the Kardashian-Jenners.
