Disney’s streaming service is set to launch later this year, and the House of Mouse is reportedly spending some serious money not only to get the subscription streamer off the ground, but also on its biggest original projects.
On Tuesday morning, Variety published a report on the upcoming Disney+ service, and what the company is intending to do with it. As we already know, Disney is creating multiple live-action TV shows based on the Star Wars and Marvel properties that it owns in order to get consumers invested at the time of the launch. Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian, from Iron Man and Jungle Book director Jon Favreau, is already in production, while MCU shows featuring Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch are in development. These projects may seem expensive for TV shows, but that’s okay with Disney.
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According to the report, Disney is willing to spend “generous” amounts of money for these properties. One top TV agent says, “They’re willing to spend real money on those shows,” referring to the Star Wars and Marvel properties.
This is probably necessary if Disney wants its top talent attached to the projects. Tom Hiddleston is poised to reprise his ever-popular role for the Loki series, while Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany will reportedly return for the Scarlet Witch show. Disney has also signed on Diego Luna to reprise his role as Cassian Andor for a Rogue One prequel series.
When it comes to its other Disney+ originals however, the company isn’t spending nearly as much money. The same report suggests that the deals Disney is offering for its other productions are nowhere near those being handed out by Netflix, Amazon, and others.
Disney has no desire to make as many originals as Netflix, but is still aiming to get a substantial amount of projects off the ground for the streaming service. TV shows based on High School Musical and Monsters Inc. are already in the works, in addition to several original films that will debut as streaming exclusives, like the live-action Lady and the Tramp film.
What are you most looking forward to with Disney’s new streaming service? Let us know in the comments!
