Company CEO Bob Iger recently confirmed what industry analysts have long recognized - that Disney’s purchase of Fox’s assets was about beefing up its Disney + content library, and not making it possible for the X-Men and Fantastic Four to share the screen with the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Mouse House is also in the process of developing original material for Disney+, with the intention of making projects like the live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian and the live-action Lady and the Tramp remake immediately available when the service launches.
Even with the combined might of fresh IP, classic Disney titles, and Fox movies and TV shows (including, all 30 seasons of The Simpsons) at its disposal, Variety reports that Disney+ will launch with just 16% of Netflix’s TV catalogue in the U.S. and 12.5% of its movie library. The news shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been keeping an eye on Netflix’s recent efforts to expand its content library, which includes spending upwards of $15 billion in 2019 alone. For the sake of comparison, Disney plans to spend $1 billion on original programming for Disney+ in its first year, with annual spending expected to rise to $2.5 billion by 2024.
Disney+ launches in the U.S. on November 12, 2019.
Source: Variety
