“We’d love for theatrical to come back for family movies — we hope it does — but if it doesn’t, we know we’re very secure in being able to use our own platform, Disney+, to help [build a franchise],” Chapek added.
After launching on Disney+ on Christmas Eve, the feature became the fastest title on the platform to hit 200 million hours of viewing time, Disney said. The film has earned a Golden Globe and many other honors, including three Oscar nominations. “Bruno” has gone to #1 in the U.S. and other countries, and has become a Tiktok phenomenon.
Chapek has often affirmed streaming’s centrality in his strategy. Early in his tenure, he restructured the company in such a way that films are no longer bound for theaters by default. Announcing his three “strategic pillars” for Disney’s success last month, he said of consumers:
Speaking to Bloomberg after Disney’s latest earnings report, Chapek said the film “has proved to the world that we can build a Disney franchise on the back of Disney+.” He cited its merchandising success and chart-topping hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” and said both followed the film’s debut on the streaming platform.
Right now, their behavior tells us and our industry that the way they want to experience entertainment is changing — and changing fast thanks to technology and the pandemic. We must evolve with our audience, not work against them.
Encanto received a month-long theatrical window after opening on November 24, departing from the day-and-date and straight-to-streaming releases that Disney’s other animated tentpoles were given in the pandemic. It grossed .2 million domestically and 7.4 million worldwide — low numbers for Disney historically, but decent for the Covid era.
The report contrasts with Netflix’s underwhelming recent quarter, which spread doubt about the long-term profitability of the streaming business and sent the company’s value crashing. Disney’s shares, on the other hand, popped around 8% in after-hours trading yesterday.
