All eyes are on The Walt Disney Company this Thursday as the company does their second annual Disney Investor Day. This Investor Day is different from the one last year as Disney now has a new CEO in Bob Chapek and the COVID-19 pandemic has changed Disney’s outlook and has accelerated their streaming ambitions.
Fans and analysts alike will be waiting on Thursday during the four-hour presentation to see if Disney+ decides to follow the HBO Max strategy. We will also see Disney’s stance on the Premier Access model which to this point seems to have minimal success, and I’ve written in the past that the model wouldn’t be good long-term for Disney.
Today, Deadline reported that Disney would announce new projects from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar on Thursday. Here is the official blurb from Deadline.
Disney on December 10 will announce its upcoming slate. While the studio will solidify what Deadline revealed recently — that the Tom Hanks-starrer ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Peter Pan’ and the Emma Stone-starrer ‘Cruella’ will bypass movie theaters to become Disney+ releases — the studio will also announce new projects from Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar that will encompass TV as well as theatrical.
It was well expected that we would be getting some announcements regarding new projects at Disney but with the COVID-19 pandemic, normal announcements have usually been delayed or the announcements are hardly groundbreaking. It seems like Deadline and others expect Thursday to be a huge news day for Disney, and I expect that too although I feel like we will get more business side news than content side news due to the raging effects of the pandemic.
But from a content side standpoint, there is plenty that could be announced! Pixar could show new trailers for their upcoming films and maybe even announce another direct-to-Disney+ film. I could also see Pixar announcing some new Disney+ series.
For Lucasfilm, I feel like any announcements will be heavy on the Star Wars side. But maybe we get updates on Indiana Jones 5, Willow Disney+ series, and Children of Blood and Bone. I tend to think we will get some Star Wars film confirmations but more importantly, I think we’ll get official word on the possible Star Wars Disney+ series like The High Republic (animated), Star Wars: Rebels sequel series (animated or live-action), Bo-Katan (live-action), Ahsoka (live-action), Boba Fett (live-action), and Lando (live-action). Plus we could get some tentative dates for The Mandalorian season three, Cassian Andor, Kenobi, and the female-centered Star Wars series from Leslye Headland.
Marvel could do the most at Investor Day as they are one of Disney’s biggest properties but most of the brand’s success comes through the theatrical model. We may get new trailers for WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki. I would also expect an announcement or two regarding a new Disney+ series like the rumored Nick Fury spinoff. Plus, Disney will have to address its plan for Black Widow.
So, plenty of announcements should go down on Thursday, and we will be here to cover them all!
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
