LOS ANGELES • Downloads of Walt Disney's streaming app rose 68 per cent to 890,000 over the weekend, a sign its unorthodox online release of Mulan helped drive demand for the service.
Besides the surge in installations, consumer spending on the app climbed 193 per cent to US$12 million (S$16.4 million) compared with a week earlier, preliminary data from Sensor Tower showed.
Mulan, a live-action remake of the 1998 animated hit, was released online last Friday after the coronavirus pandemic prompted Disney to scrub its United States theatrical rollout.
To watch the film, customers of its US$7-a-month Disney+ service have to pay US$30 more - an approach the company had not attempted before. Disney is releasing the film in cinemas in countries that do not have the streaming platform. It is showing in cinemas in Singapore.
The unusual premium video download is considered a test of whether streaming subscribers are willing to pay extra fees to purchase content.
The pandemic, which shut down theatres around the world, has prompted Hollywood studios to experiment with different release strategies.
Comcast's Universal Studios made its Trolls World Tour film available online in April for US$20.
In July, Disney put Hamilton - a filmed version of the Broadway show - on its streaming service at no additional cost. Hamilton generated a 79 per cent or one million increase in week-over-week app downloads the weekend it was released, Sensor Tower said.
Meanwhile, Mulan has drawn a fresh wave of criticism for being filmed partly in Xinjiang, the region in China where Uighur Muslims were allegedly detained in mass internment camps.
For months, the film has faced calls for a boycott by supporters of the Hong Kong anti-government protests after the movie's star, Liu Yifei, said she backed the city's police, who have been criticised for their use of force against the demonstrators.
The latest backlash against Mulan began on Monday, when several social-media users noticed that in the film's credits, Disney thanked six government entities in Xinjiang, a region in China's far west that is home to the Uighurs.
The entities mentioned in the movie's credits included the police bureau in Turpan, an ancient Silk Road city in eastern Xinjiang.
The details of Disney's partnership with the authorities in Xinjiang are unclear. The company did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment yesterday.
BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES
