Last Friday, Disney stock suffered its worst single-day since June of 2020, with shares down as much as 5.4% at one point. The dip was tied to slower-than-expected growth in the number of new Disney+ subscribers, with the company reporting only 8.7M new subscribers during the first three months of 2021, more than 6M short of the number of new subscribers that investors have expected. A slowdown in the growth of new streaming subscriptions has also occurred at Netflix, as more consumers emerge from their pandemic life at home. In an effort to bolster the appeal of its streaming offerings, Disney announced that plans to release its upcoming summer family film Jungle Cruise both to theatres and on Disney+ Premiere Access on the same day, July 30th. The studio has already decided on this route for other major summer releases, including Pixar’s Luca, Marvel’s Black Widow and Disney’s Cruella. While some have speculated that these moves show Disney’s lack of confidence in the early recovery of moviegoing in theatres, others see it as an attempt to use all its assets to bolster the growth of Disney+.
See also: Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Jungle Cruise’ Coming to Theaters and Disney Plus Premier Access in July (Variety)