French Cinema Owner Takes Bat To Mulan Display After Disney Decides To Skip Theaters

The tension between movie studios and movie theaters continues to grow as the global pandemic [...]

By Brandon Davis

The tension between movie studios and movie theaters continues to grow as the global pandemic throughout 2020 has forced some films to release on streaming platforms, often skipping theatrical runs in their entirety. As movie theaters continue to have a complete lack of income being closed down around the world, movies electing not to head to theaters are seen as costing the theaters money as the opportunity to play some of the new titles is stripped away. As a result, one French movie theater owner took out his frustrations on a Mulan standee with a baseball bat.

A video of the French theater owner beating up the cardboard standee surfaced online after Disney revealed Mulan will be pulled from the studio's theatrical release schedule and released on Disney+ for an additional charge to subscribers. The move comes as Disney revealed its third-quarter losses due to COVID-19 shutdowns of theaters and their parks. The company reports it has suffered a $3 billion loss because of the pandemic's effect on business overall. This premium model for Disney+ will help mitigate the box office loss Mulan will take by streaming, but CEO Bob Chapek added Mulan would screen in select theaters, though this French theaters is probably not one of them.

See the video of the theater owner letting his anger out on the Mulan standee in the video below.

The Disney+ release for Mulan is not the first Disney film to go from a theatrical plan to a Disney+ release as The One and Only Ivan and Artemis Fowl both followed a similar strategy, though neither require an additional fee to watch.

Disney claims this move is a "one-off" strategy but won't definitively rule out such a release style for upcoming titles like Black Widow. With Mulan releasing on Disney+ for an added fee and Tenet dropping in select U.S. theaters in early September following an international release, studios will have all eyes on the successes and failures of these experimental strategies moving forward. Disney also has The New Mutants due out in theaters on August 28.

Mulan will be available on Disney+ on September 4 for $29.99.

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