Disney’s Investor Day will be held virtually this year on December 10th, 2020.
2020 has been quite an unconventional year, to say the least. Especially if you’re a big Hollywood studio. Movies and movie studios have taken a heavy hit this year with the pandemic forcing theaters worldwide to shut down. As time went on, some studios tried to return to a sense of normality by reopening some theaters and distributing their movies there. Others adapted and tried a more “direct-to-streaming” PVoD approach with their films. But no matter the case, it’s forced some studios to delay their projects and production slates. But now, we’ll able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as the Walt Disney Company will hold its virtual Investor Day tomorrow.
What exactly goes down on Investor Day?
Disney’s Investor Day is this particular event where Disney gathers its assets and fellow production companies to discuss their current status and what’s ahead for the company either next year (2021) or in the foreseeable future. Now last year, Disney focused its Investor Day on its “Comprehensive Direct-to-Consumer Strategy”, giving presentations for Disney+, Hulu, Hotstar, ESPN+ and of course, they also discussed how Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic fit into their program at the time. That presentation lasted for about 2 hours and 30 minutes. This year, it is expected that they will follow suit to last year and discuss the future of Disney+ in a presentation that is expected to last a total of 4 hours. Deadline has also confirmed that they will announce “new projects from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar that will encompass TV as well as theatrical.”
Expect “Expansion”
We can expect Disney to shed some light on exactly how well the streaming platform did for its first year of service since debuting on November 12th last year. As of September of 2020, Disney+ had gained a net total of 73.7 million subscribers, and that number is before Disney+ was made available in Latin America, so we expect that number of subscribers to grow by the time the event rolls around tomorrow. Not only that, but we can also expect Disney+ to make some expansion announcements tomorrow, specifically to Southeast Asia. Twitter User @DrewsClues found this very interesting information, with Disney making a search in Southeast Asia, hiring personnel for Disney+ in Southeast Asia.
https://twitter.com/drewsclues/status/1335442360667426817?s=21
Expect some shifts from Disney’s theatrical slate.
We might see Disney officially confirm projects that were originally slated to release in theaters shift to Disney+. Some of those projects include the likes of Cruella, and the live-action remakes of Peter Pan and Pinocchio.
We may also hear announcements of possible Disney live-action remakes that may be making our way to the big screen soon, as well as possible announcements to future Disney+ original shows. Speaking of Disney+…
Expect more details on ‘premier access’
We all know of Disney’s experiment with Mulan and Premier Access from way back when in September and it seems the experiment really took off. Let’s take a look at what Bob Iger had to say regarding Premier Access during their Q4 2020 Earnings Results Webcast back in November:
Based off on what we’re reading, it seems that those ideas of Premier Access being a “one-off” are certainly untrue and that we can expect more titles to be released on Premier Access. However, I find it possible that Disney might consider reducing the price tag on the films they might release under their platform considering the reception Mulan received. Now, what titles could Disney release under the brand? There’s a number of potential candidates that could be released via this format as a way to compete with Warner’s decision to push their entire 2021 slate to HBO Max.
Expect the announcement of ‘Disney+ Star’
Joseph Aberl could probably tell you more about this project than I can but one of the most exciting parts of this upcoming Investor Day is the announcement of a new section in Disney+ called “Disney+ Star.” Now, Disney+ Star is rumored to essentially be a section of Disney+ that’s more focused on adult content and that it will require a pin code to access such content. We might see the addition of films from some of the companies Disney managed to purchase in recent years such as 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, A&E, and more. To read more on that, feel free to check out Joseph’s article on Disney+ Star.
Expect announcements/trailers from Marvel Studios
As we mentioned earlier in the article, Deadline confirmed that we can expect announcements regarding new projects from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar that will encompass TV as well as theatrical. So let’s start with Marvel Studios. Right now, Marvel Studios has been extremely silent and rightfully so. It is the first time since 2009 that we go an entire year without a Marvel Studios production. The entire Phase 4 slate has seen a bit of mix up these past few months, with a lot of projects currently left up in the air without an official date. Now that the pandemic is starting to lift the pressure off studios and we see the light at the end of the tunnel, with the rollout of vaccines across the world, it might be a good time for Marvel to set some of its dates in stone.
1. We’ll see a new Phase 4 slate (Extremely Likely)
As of today, these are ALL of the projects Marvel Studios has OFFICIALLY announced, and before the pandemic, most of their production and premiere dates were all set in stone. But since the pandemic, a lot of these projects were forced to delay their releases, with no official dates in sight outside of WandaVision, which premieres on January 15th, and Black Widow which premieres in May. Notice how originally, Black Widow was meant to kick off Phase 4 but with the pandemic forcing its delay, it pushed WandaVision to the front of the line. We may expect to see some new dates set for these films and perhaps a slight shift here and there.
2. We’ll get our first looks at some of the upcoming Disney+ shows (Likely)
With WandaVision set to debut on January 15th, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki finally having completed filming, and the animated What If? show well into nonstop production since its announcement, 2021 is completely stacked in terms of Marvel Studios content for Disney+ shows. Now that nearly all of these projects are pretty much completed in production it might be a good time to present investors (and fans) with another trailer for the upcoming WandaVision show. We believe that Marvel has been setting up a sort of countdown in these past few days with some posters for WandaVision so be sure to check out that theory piece. It’ll also be a good time for Marvel to give us our first trailers for shows like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, and the animated What If?. I also expect Feige to give us an update on shows like Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel, which just started production as well as the upcoming Moon Knight and She-Hulk series, starring Oscar Issac and Tatiana Maslany respectively.
3. We’ll get some more Disney+ series announcements (Likely)
Charles Murphy had taken up the task of creating an incredible article about what to expect from the future of the MCU and when to expect it, so do be sure to check that out! But back at the matter at hand, it is likely that Marvel might also take the time to announce some projects, some that we already know of like the Nick Fury Disney+ show. Marvel might also take the time to address some of the Disney+ rumors of characters that might join the MCU via these types of shows like Ironheart, S.W.O.R.D., Secret Warriors, and Ghost Rider.
4. We’ll get some more theatrical news (Unlikely)
If you’ve been paying attention to the news as of late, you might have noticed that multiple trades and blogs have been dropping Marvel news these past few months regarding the MCU films such as Kang the Conqueror being confirmed for Ant-Man 3, Christian Bale in Thor: Love and Thunder, and the massive bombshell that dropped yesterday regarding Spider-Man 3 with the castings of Alfred Molina, Andrew Garfield, Kirsten Dunst and the rumors of Tobey Maguire and Emma Stone joining the film for what seems to be a live-action iteration of the Spider-Verse. We’ve discussed the possibility of Marvel making the move to push Black Widow to a possible hybrid release both in theaters and Disney+ via its Premier Access service. AND not only that but Marvel has yet to address any details regarding films like Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, Blade, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Deadpool 3, and so on. Whether or not Kevin Feige takes the opportunity to announce any details regarding any of these projects remains to be seen, but I at least find it unlikely.
Expect announcements and details from Lucasfilm
Apart from Marvel Studios, we also expect Lucasfilm to announce some of its upcoming slate as well. They might tout some of the massive success that the second season of the Mandalorian has generated and will discuss what might be in store for the future of the show as well. Our very own João Pinto had also taken up the task of creating an incredible article about what to expect from the future of Star Wars and when to expect it, so do be sure to check that out! In there, we discuss A TON of goodies that Lucasfilm might discuss tomorrow. Among those are the series focused on Boba Fett, Cassian Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Bad Batch. We also might get the confirmation of series that have been rumored to be in development for some time, such as a show focused on Bo-Katan as well as a show around Ahsoka Tano. And of course, there is the possibility that Kathleen Kennedy might possibly discuss the future of the Star Wars films as well, so we’ll have to stay tuned for that one.
Expect announcements from Pixar
We are also expected to take a peek at what Pixar has been working on behind the scenes in terms of future animated films (and possibly even series). They may discuss the upcoming movie Soul, which is expected to be released on Disney+ this coming December 25th, as well as discussing their upcoming project, Luca.
