Disney may have postponed some of its movies that were expected in theaters due to the coronavirus, but it’s got your back when it comes to home entertainment. Due to basically everyone being self-quarantined at home, Disney has released ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ on digital a few days early. It has also released ‘Frozen 2’ on Disney+ a full three months early.
‘The Rise of Skywalker’ is available in HD for $19.99 and in 4K for $24.99, and can be purchased through Apple TV and iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, FandangoNow, and Movies Anywhere. It is also available through some of these services in a nine-movie bundle of all of the ‘Star Wars’ “Skywalker Saga” films.
The digital versions will include the extras: “The Skywalker Legacy,” a feature-length making-of documentary; a featurette about the making of the scenes in the Pasaana desert; a featurette about Warwick Davis, who reprised his role as Wicket the Ewok; and a look at how the Lucasfilm effects team created a record 584 creatures and droids for this film. The digital versions also contain an exclusive bonus that will not be on the physical releases, “The Maestro’s Finale,” a featurette about composer John Williams who has scored every ‘Star Wars’movie.
Disney was already planning to release ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ to buy digitally on Tuesday, March 17, but offered it a few days earlier, on Friday, March 13.
It will be available to rent digitally on Tuesday, March 31, the same day it will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K UHD. Also being released for the first time on Bly-Ray 4K UHD are the first eight movies in the saga, ‘The Phantom Menace’, ‘Attack of the Clones’, ‘Revenge of the Sith’, ‘A New Hope’, ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, ‘Return of the Jedi’, ‘The Force Awakens’, as well as ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’.
Presumably, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ will be made available on Disney+ about three months after that, so June.
‘Frozen 2’ was just released on DVD/Blu-Ray and digital about two weeks ago, but Disney+ released it early as a treat for families.
Frozen fans, show yourself! #Frozen2 is now streaming on #DisneyPlus in the US. Coming to Canada, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand this Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/m0IEiOWVq2
— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) March 14, 2020
The reason for the delay between the home video release and streaming is obviously to generate sales. People won’t buy something if they can get it for free, obviously.
Over the weekend, Disney announced that it was postponing the theatrical releases of ‘Mulan’, ‘New Mutants’, and ‘Antlers’ until the coronavirus pandemic can be resolved.
Source: Variety
