Disney announced that its new hit movie Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt, will soon be available to all Disney+ subscribers.
In celebration of the first-ever Disney+ Day on Nov. 12, Jungle Cruise will be one of several films and series made available for free on the Disney+ streaming service. The family-friendly adventure movie was originally released simultaneously in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access for $30.
Disney+ Day marks the second anniversary of the streaming platform. According to Disney CEO Bob Chapek in a press release, "Disney+ Day will be a grand-scale celebration of our subscribers across the entire company." Said Chapek, "This day of appreciation brings to life our mission to entertain, inform, and inspire fans and families around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling and will become an annual tentpole event to be amplified across our global businesses."
Jungle Cruise is loosely based on the theme park attraction at Walt Disney World and sees the bold Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt) and wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff (Johnson) adventure across the Amazon river in search of an ancient tree that holds the power to heal. The movie's release coincided with the unveiling of a complete overhaul of the theme park attraction, which had been subject to complaints from parkgoers, due to its negative depictions of Indigenous people.
Since its July 24 release date, the action-adventure film became one of many movies adversely affected by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as the film was delayed for over a year after originally being set to release in 2020. With ongoing concerns that moviegoers would not be willing to visit theatres due to the global pandemic, Disney opted to make Jungle Cruise available for $30 on Disney+ Premier Access, a strategy the company previously used with big releases such as Cruella and its live-action adaptation of Mulan.
Despite the difficulties movie releases are currently facing due to the ongoing pandemic Jungle Cruise performed better than expected, earning more than $100 million at the domestic box office and $187 million worldwide. The movie also brought in over $30 million from its Disney+ release. The strong financial performance saw Disney greenlight a follow-up to Jungle Cruise, which was announced when Johnson broke the news on Twitter that he was in talks for a sequel. Johnson and Blunt are currently slated to reprise their roles in a future sequel.
Along with the release of Jungle Cruise, Disney will also introduce a number of other movies to its streaming platform including Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi, The Legend of The Ten Rings as well as the premiere of Disney+ original movie, Home Sweet Home Alone.
Source: Disney