Good afternoon. I'm Lowell Singer, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations at The Walt Disney Company. And it's my pleasure to welcome you to Disney Investor Day 2020. We truly appreciate you taking the time to join us here today. Now at today's Investor Day, we intend to convey why we are so excited about our direct to consumer opportunity and also to answer many of the questions you've asked us since our first direct to consumer Investor Day in April of 2019.
So let me provide some details for the day. In a moment, you will hear from Bob Chapek, Disney's Chief Executive Officer. Next, Karim Daniel, who heads our Media and Entertainment Distribution business, will discuss our commercialization strategy. You will then hear more detail about our direct to consumer businesses, including Disney plus Star, Hulu and ESPN plus We will then take a 10 minute break. And following the break, our Executive Chairman, Bob Iger, will kick off a presentation of our incredible content pipeline, during which you will hear from many of our company's amazing creative executives.
Later, our Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy will provide a financial update. And then after Bob Chapek wraps up the day, we will move to an analyst question and answer session. We are joining you today from stage 2 here on our lot in Burbank, which is the same stage on which we hosted many of you last year. And while much has changed over the past 20 months, including our direct to consumer ambition, some things haven't changed at all, including our legal team. So before we move on, I must mention that statements made in today's presentation may contain forward looking information.
Actual results may differ materially from what we are presenting today. The information you now see identifies and gives you details about some of the risks regarding those forward looking statements, as well as where to go to get more information about our risk factors. Now a couple of logistical notes about today. Due to some rights issues, we will only be able to stream some of the videos that we are showing today. We apologize that we can't share all of them.
However, we do have a lot we can show you. And we also hope that you can view today's presentation on a large screen. Shortly after the conclusion of today's presentation, we will be making a replay of the event available. We will also be posting downloadable slides to our website. Finally, and most importantly, thanks for taking the time to join us today.
And now it is my pleasure to introduce the Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek.
Thank you, Lo. I also want to welcome you all to our virtual Investor Day. While I wish we could be together for this, I think you'll find the presentation we have for you is truly spectacular. It's hard to believe it's only been a year since we first introduced you in the world to a whole new way of enjoying the magic of Disney in the comfort and convenience of your own homes. We knew this one of a kind service featuring content only Disney can create would resonate with consumers and stand out in the marketplace.
And needless to say, Disney Plus has exceeded our wildest expectations with 86,800,000 subscribers as of December 2nd. That's quite an achievement. This success has bolstered our confidence and our continued acceleration towards a DTC first business model. And more importantly, it's launched the Walt Disney Company into a new era of delivering consumers truly exceptional entertainment built around our world renowned brands and franchises. Given that storytelling is at the heart of everything we do at Disney, we're incredibly proud of how much our stories have been embraced by people around the world.
95% of the population in 12 of our top global markets engaged with our content over the past year alone, and more than 1,000,000,000 people have identified themselves as true fans with a deep emotional connection to our brands. Since the launch of Disney plus we have been working hard to meet the growing demand for entertainment. And now with our recent reorganization, we've separated content creation from distribution and put in place a new structure that will allow us to be even more nimble, responsive and effective in the delivery of our unparalleled programming. This will enable us to tell great stories inspired by the perfect mix of creative excellence enhanced by data driven audience insights delivered in ways that consumers want. Our unique access to an incredible number of consumer touch points across our businesses gives us a clear advantage.
Based on insights gained from this wealth of data, our distribution and commercialization team is able to better inform our creatives of consumer preferences, and the creative teams are empowered to make the high quality branded entertainment they believe will resonate with audiences. This new organization also gives us maximum flexibility in determining when and on which platform content will be available. And this is especially important now given consumers rapidly changing consumption behaviors and the prolonged uncertainty due to the pandemic. As circumstances change, we will continue to consider these and other critical factors when determining what steps we may take to most effectively distribute our programming. Our goal is always to serve consumers in the best way possible.
Our new Head of Media and Entertainment Distribution, Kareem Daniel, will talk more about our long term plans in just a moment. While this has been a very tough year for all of us, here at Disney, we continue to take deliberate and innovative steps in running our business to best position them for future growth. Walt Disney founded this company nearly 100 years ago with the belief that we should always be evolving, growing and reinventing ourselves. In his words, we keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. And I strongly believe it is this perpetual willingness to constantly challenge the status quo, to challenge the status quo, to be visionary in our thinking, to take smart bold risks and to make strategic investments in our future that allows our company to continue to thrive in increasingly dynamic environments.
Another thing that really sets us apart is the ecosystem that's comprised of our various lines of business and portfolio of great brands and franchises. Some of you may be familiar with this 1957 schematic that shows how Walt envisioned the company with everything centered around storytelling. There was an incredible amount of synergy between segments that powered the company's success. And what you see today is a modern incarnation of this same synergy still rooted in the tremendous strength of our storytelling across our unrivaled collection of brands and franchises. Our unique ecosystem connects us with consumers in ways that no other company can.
For example, let's consider the outstanding success of Marvel with its record breaking collection of films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe loved by fans around the world, including the number one movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame. And we're incredibly excited to show you what the amazing team at Marvel has in store for you later in the presentation, including feature films, along with cinematic quality episodic shows headed to Disney plus such as the highly anticipated new series WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki. We also can't wait for you to experience the all new Avengers Campus being built at Disney California Adventure and the vast selection of new superhero consumer products available around the world. And as you'll see later, our other studios with their own prolific collection of intellectual property are developing new storylines and characters that will expand our popular franchises well into the future and all of it will inevitably become part of Disney plus further enriching the unmatched offering of content available on the service. Of course, our excitement in the DTC space goes well beyond just Disney plus We're incredibly pleased with the success of all of our streaming services, Disney plus ESPN plus and Hulu.
And now with the upcoming launch of our star branded general entertainment offering outside the U. S. Fueled by our amazing creatives and the incredible array of high quality movies and series from our acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Our DTC business will be even more robust and have a greater global reach than ever before. We're confident the future of The Walt Disney Company is a bright one.
We have the best and most respected brands in the world and the most talented people in the industry. And we're taking bold, transformative steps and making the right investments to accelerate our growth. Before I turn it over to Kareem, let me just say how proud I am to be leading this extraordinary company during this pivotal time. And like everyone, we are facing some tough short term challenges. But just as we've done countless times over our nearly 100 year history, we are finding new and innovative ways to entertain and inspire people, which you'll see throughout this presentation.
Now, let's welcome Kareem.
Thanks, Bob, and good afternoon, everyone. I am thrilled to be here representing Disney's new media and entertainment distribution organization, where we have the privilege of sharing the unparalleled stories created across the Walt Disney Company with fans and families around the world. We have the very best creative minds in the industry here at Disney, and I'm excited to share with you our plans for how we intend to accelerate our growth in the critical direct to consumer space in partnership with the creative teams in the studios, general entertainment and sports organizations. As a company, we were set up to achieve success in an increasingly dynamic environment. And as Bob mentioned, consumer behavior really does drive our decision making.
While we have always valued the data gained through our numerous consumer touch points, the rapid growth of our portfolio of D2C services provides us with an even greater opportunity to understand their preferences. And we're using these insights to help determine how to optimally engage with our audiences. In fact, our team uses all of the information available to us when determining how best to allocate our annual creative content budgets across platforms, with the goal to maximize both audience engagement and commercial impact. And we share this budgetary framework and critical insights with our creative partners as part of a truly collaborative planning process that delivers high quality branded entertainment to achieve our established growth objectives for all of our platforms from direct to consumer to linear networks to theatrical exhibition. This exchange of information is a key pillar of our organization's overall strategy, which also relies on the increased flexibility provided by our mix of distribution options, including, in no particular order, releasing content through traditional windows, such as theaters and linear networks before it is made available on our direct to consumer services, particularly recognizing Theatrical Exhibition's ability to help establish major franchises that are at the heart of our Disney flywheel, providing our creative output simultaneously day and date on both traditional and D2C platforms in concert with our Premier Access commercialization strategy for the D2C component and exclusively distributing our content on our streaming services, providing a constant flow of new titles for subscriber acquisition and to minimize churn.
Of course, regardless of where it originates, all of our films and episodic series will inevitably end up as part of our incredibly rich and increasingly robust library of content on our D2C platforms. Since streaming has quickly become a preferred method of consumption, we are prioritizing our D2C platforms, both in terms of how we distribute our content and also through an increased investment in original programming for Disney plus Hulu, ESPN Plus and the upcoming star branded international general entertainment offering. By significantly ramping up production for these services, we will not only accelerate the growth of our D2C businesses, but also solidify our deep and very personal relationship with consumers globally. Today, you will see this new strategy clearly reflected as our creative leaders tell you about the phenomenal stories that they're developing, ranging from blockbusters that would debut 1st in theaters to premium series and films that will only be available on Disney plus These Disney plus originals will carry a special logo, and I can tell you that you'll be seeing it a lot over the course of the next couple of hours. Just to provide you with a preview, we're happy to announce that over the next few years, we will release roughly 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney Live Action, Disney Animation and Pixar Series, as well as 15 Disney Live Action, Disney Animation and Pixar Features, all new and all directly on Disney plus With these Disney plus originals, along with theatrical releases and library titles, we will be adding something new to the service every week.
Notably, this month's programming is a great example of how we're able to seamlessly blend long term planning with the nimbleness required to drive success in a dynamic world, as we're offering both the conclusion of the 2nd season of our hit original series, The Mandalorian, as well as the recently announced debut of Pixar's next masterpiece, Soul, which was initially slated for theaters. In a similar way, the wealth of Disney plus content that we'll preview for you today also reflects a mix of stories developed specifically for the service, along with content originally intended for theatrical release. In particular, a number of Disney and Pixar films heading to Disney plus were previously planned as theatrical releases, But as a perfect illustration of our strategic pivot to a D2C first business model, we have decided they will now be Disney plus originals. Further, in light of continued COVID related challenges in the marketplace and our commitment to providing consumers greater choice than ever before, we are pleased to announce that we will release Walt Disney Animation Studios' epic adventure story, Raya and the Last Dragon through Disney plus Premier Access at the same time that we debut the film in theaters in March.
You'll have a chance to hear more about this highly anticipated film from Jennifer Lee, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation in just a little while. It is important to note that all of these distribution plans reflect our current view of the media and entertainment landscape. One of the primary benefits of our new organizational structure is our ability to quickly reevaluate and adjust our plans in light of any changes in the marketplace. And we will continue to shift and optimize our mix of windowed theatrical, day and date and D2C exclusive offerings according to what is best for the consumer and our businesses. The Walt Disney Company is uniquely positioned to execute this consumer centric strategy.
We have brands and franchises that are beloved globally. We have teams of brilliant storytellers powering our best in class creative engines. And we have a strong and diverse portfolio of streaming services. All of these factors yield distinct competitive advantages, enabling us to deliver the compelling stories that audiences worldwide have come to expect from Disney in the ever evolving ways that they prefer to view them. And now, here to share a business update on our direct to consumer services, please welcome Rebecca Campbell, Chairman, International Operations and Direct to Consumer.
Thank you.
Thanks, Karim. Today, I'm going to start by updating you on the to consumer offerings. Now when you heard from us in April of 2019, we shared our guidance for fiscal year 2024, 60,000,000 to 90,000,000 Disney plus subscribers, 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 Hulu subscribers and 8,000,000 to 12,000,000 ESPN plus subscribers. I'm thrilled to say that our performance against those goals has been spectacular. As of December 2, we now have over 137,000,000 subscriptions across our direct to consumer portfolio, including 86,800,000 Disney plus subscribers, of which approximately 30% are Disney plus Hotstar subscribers, 38,800,000 Hulu subscribers and 11,500,000 ESPN Plus subscribers.
Due to this exceptional performance out of the gate, our aspirations have grown since we last met. And our CFO, Christine McCarthy, will provide updated guidance for our direct to consumer business later today. But first, I want to talk about Disney plus And by the way, our amazing storytellers could not have scripted this any better. In just over a year, Disney plus has cemented its reputation as a singular destination for premium branded content. Our subscriber growth demonstrates the incredible consumer response as we've rolled the service out around the world.
Our initial launch in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands yielded an immediate response, 10,000,000 sign ups as of day 1. And then we quickly expanded across EMEA to the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and in more than 10 other countries. And then in Asia, we launched Disney Plus Hotstar in India and Indonesia and executed a limited Disney Plus launch in Japan, and that will actually expand to the full market next year. And just last month, we launched in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru and more than 15 additional countries in South and Central America. And we're not done yet as we will be launching in more markets in 2021, including Eastern Europe, South Korea and Hong Kong to name a few.
Now to speak more about our global distribution strategy for Disney plus I'd like to turn it over to Michael Paul, President of Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.
Thanks, Rebecca. That's a perfect setup. Across the globe, we have built early momentum by meeting customers wherever they are on the devices they prefer. The availability of our app on mobile and connected TV devices has helped us amplify our reach into more streaming households and deepen subscriber engagement. We have an extensive device footprint globally, which provides subscribers with a variety of ways to access Disney plus This was made possible by launching deals with Apple, Amazon's Fire TV, Google and Roku to name a few.
I'm excited to announce today our new agreement with Comcast, which will make available a fully integrated Disney Plus and ESPN Plus experience to over 20,000,000 Comcast X1 set top boxes and flex platforms, joining Hulu in the Q1 of 2021. While we've acquired the majority of our subscribers directly or through 3rd party app stores, our launch strategy also included wholesale agreements with a variety of distributors to further expand our reach and amplify our marketing. In the U. S, we've been pleased with Verizon's Disney Plus on Us promotion. And this past August, we extended our agreement to offer the Disney bundle to their premium tier of unlimited customers.
Verizon is providing a seamless experience for customers rolling off their initial promotion and upgrading to the Disney bundle. The Disney bundle combines Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus in 1 for the low monthly price of 12.99 dollars And in January, based on feedback from our customers, we'll make a version of the Disney bundle that includes Hulu with no ads for $6 more per month widely available, providing even greater choice and flexibility to our consumers. In Europe, we have distribution deals with leading paid TV and mobile network operators, including Canal Plus in France, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Movistar in Spain, O2 in the U. K. And TIM in Italy.
In Asia Pacific, we teamed with Jio, India's largest telecom network and the 3rd largest mobile network operator in the world, serving nearly 400,000,000 customers. Together with Jio, we made it simple and convenient for prepaid mobile customers to access Disney Plus Hotstar, helping drive rapid growth in India. And in Latin America, we collaborated with Mercado Libre, the region's leading e commerce company with over 76,000,000 active shoppers for distribution of Disney plus In addition, we are working with market leaders across the region with both a la carte and bundled offers. We have also been ambitious in experimenting with reaching new audience segments. Take for example, our recently launched global offer with Epic Games that bundles Disney plus with Fortnite purchases.
By combining our incredible IP with authentic in game tie ins, we're able to market Disney Plus to millions of Fortnite players around the world. Now I'll turn it back to you, Rebecca, to speak to our Disney Plus engagement strategy.
Thanks, Michael. Disney plus has provided us the platform to bring more incredible content directly to consumers. At the same time as the world adapted to challenges brought on by the pandemic. And looking ahead, the content slated for Disney plus over this coming year is truly extraordinary. And I can't wait for you to hear more from our amazing content creators later today.
But before we get there, I'd love to tell you about how we're approaching the expansion of Disney plus internationally. So as I mentioned earlier, our launches around the world have been a key driver of our subscriber growth to date. And what we've done in India will help illustrate how we have adapted our approach. With a rapidly growing middle class and expanding discretionary spending, India is a promising market opportunity and we are uniquely positioned to succeed in India due to our existing presence with Star TV and Hotstar Digital Brands. This is why we decided to launch Disney plus in conjunction with Hotstar to create a truly integrated entertainment experience for consumers in that market.
Disney plus Hotstar offers a massive collection of local content from Bollywood films to TV series in 7 local languages, adding over 17,000 hours of original local programming every year. And importantly, Disney Plus Hotstar is the exclusive home for the most significant cricket events in the world, the Indian Premier League, the Asia Cup, the Cricket World Cup and BCCI's India Cricket Rights. On top of that, offering all the best that the Walt Disney Company has in one place has made Disney Plus Hotstar the ultimate streaming destination in India, all at an accessible and an affordable price. Now this strategy is our template for other South Asian markets, with Indonesia being the first that are also driven by local content and mobile consumption. We know Disney plus Hotstar can lead the region as the top streaming service for all of our consumers.
So building on the success of Disney Plus Hotstar in India and Indonesia, we will be launching Star and Star Plus as our general entertainment content brand outside of the United States. And we will be offering these brands in 2 different ways depending on the market. Now I know that this may be a lot to digest, so let me walk you through it and I'd like to explain each strategy. Let's start with STAR. In Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and then a few other markets, Star will be fully integrated into Disney plus It will be accessible as the 6 brand tile in the app.
Star will add a robust collection of our best original and library general entertainment films and series to exceptional content already available on Disney plus Star will include global hit series from Disney Television Studios and FX to blockbuster films and significant library content from the Disney library and our 21st Century Fox acquisition to an array of exclusive local original content, specifically programmed to appeal to our subscribers within each market. We will be launching Star in many markets on February 23, 2021. We'll also be raising the price of Disney plus to reflect the value of all of this remarkable content. For example, in Continental Europe, we'll be raising the price by €2 to €8.99 with a similar adjustment in other markets. And then we'll use this approach as we launch Disney plus with Star already included in additional markets, including Japan and South Korea later in 2021.
Now to give us a first look at the Disney plus service with Star Integrated, please welcome our Head of Product for Disney plus Gerald Jimmerson.
It's great to be with all of you this afternoon. Rebecca has given me a wonderful setup to walk everyone through the Star experience on a connected TV. So what is Star on Disney plus Star will bring a wide range of new content for families, older teens and adults to Disney plus Now, when subscribers first encounter the new collection, they'll be greeted with an animation that highlights the new star tile, as well as the new movies and shows available. Since we'll be adding entertainment with more mature ratings, it's important that we take the time to set expectations with subscribers and make sure the titles they see are appropriate, even for the youngest members of the family. We work hard to make sure our parental controls are second to none.
To that end, we'll ask subscribers to opt in for full access to the expanded catalog. We've created a simple process for them to change their settings in order to view titles with higher ratings. When a subscriber chooses to access the full Star catalog, we'll ask them for their password to confirm that they're the account owner, and we make it crystal clear that by clicking confirm, they're opting in to view content rated 18 and above. And with their settings updated, subscribers arrive back to Disney plus home screen, where all new content now joins the core family friendly content of Disney plus Joining the other amazing brands that make up Disney plus is the new star tile. Like our other 5 brands, you'll find a dedicated star landing screen to browse our general entertainment movies and series.
Under the Star brand, you'll see newer movies like Kingsman, alongside classics like Die Hard and Alien, plus great series like Atlanta, Modern Family, Homeland and The Americans. Returning to home, let's also check out the Marvel brand landing screen. We're now able to include even more movies like Logan and series like Agents of Shield. And for those with young children, our best in class formal controls ensure your family only sees the titles you want them to. With the addition of Star, we're making a service that tens of millions of subscribers already love even more compelling for older teens and adults, all while taking great care to ensure Disney plus remains a secure, family friendly place for all our fans.
I'll turn it back to Rebecca to dive into the Star Plus strategy, and I'll be back in a few to walk you through a first look.
Thanks, Cheryl. Now let's shift to our strategy for Latin America, where we are taking a slightly different approach. Unlike Star, which will be embedded in the Disney plus app, our general entertainment content in Latin America will be in a standalone app. Given the strength of our sports portfolio in this region, we will launch a direct to consumer offering called Star Plus, which will include general entertainment TV series and movies from our studios and a stunning array of live sports from ESPN, including an all star portfolio of soccer leagues, Grand Slam Tennis and much more. Star Plus will also have an incredible collection of local originals and will launch in June of 2021 as a standalone service, but it will also be available as part of an attractively priced bundle with Disney plus And now back to Gerald to give you an exclusive first look at the new Star Plus streaming service for Latin America.
Now that Rebecca has set up the strategy behind Star Plus, I get to give you a first look at the experience. Star Plus is a standalone app and will have a world class mix of great general entertainment movies and series from our studios. In addition, Star Plus will also include sports. From ESPN, a well respected and recognized brand across Latin America. The first thing you'll notice is a more interactive home screen, where we're showcasing some of the most exciting new content front and center.
We've made it easy to find what you love with an updated approach to continue watching. Now, in addition to series like Modern Family and movies like Underwater, you'll also find live event programming like the U. S. Open on ESPN. Continue watching is even smart enough to know when a live event is over and we'll remove it from view unless an on demand replay is available.
As you scroll down the screen, you'll find blockbuster movies like Deadpool 2 and The Devil Wears product. And with new shows and movies from our studios continuously being added to the service, the new to Star Plus row will help subscribers keep up with the always growing collection. Now moving down the screen, you'll find a row for live sports from ESPN. From this row, you'll be able to see at a glance who's playing, what the score is and how much time is left in a way that's much more engaging than a traditional EPG. We've also added the ability to quickly jump to a dedicated ESPN sports landing screen.
This screen can do much more than your traditional channel guide. It's a window into an incredible variety of sports, and it's all included with your Star Plus subscription. It will carry not only the ESPN channels love to cross Latin America, but also a wide range of exclusive live events, all organized so fans can quickly see what's on and find exactly what they're looking for. Helpful features like Live Now, upcoming and smart content filters make it easy to 0 in on specific sports and leagues from ESPN. Our teams are still diligently working to create the best possible consumer experience, but I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek of Star Plus.
We're confident Star Plus and Star will become household names for the best in streaming general entertainment content outside of the U. S. And now bringing it back to our domestic general entertainment strategy, I'd like to welcome Kelly Campbell, President of FUVA.
Thanks, Gerald. The year was 2,008 and Hulu launched as a disruptor, an innovator and as part of the movement that ushered a centerpiece of entertainment for consumers and paved the way for ad supported streaming. Today, Hulu is at its strongest position ever with a rare combination of continued rapid growth and a clear path toward profitability. In just 3 years, Hulu has more than doubled its number of paying subscribers and become the largest digital MVPD service in the U. S.
We've achieved this remarkable growth by providing consumers with the best of TV, film, news and sports, live or on demand, all in one cohesive experience. It's that unprecedented level of choice and flexibility that differentiates Hulu. Subscribers can choose from the ad supported SVOD package, SVOD with no ads or Hulu plus Live TV with the option to add premium networks to any of these plans. And we do this in a way that uniquely allows consumers to seamlessly move between products depending on their changing habits. One key component of that consumer experience is Hulu plus live TV.
It combines popular live channels across sports, news and entertainment, along with the full Hulu on demand library of more than 70,000 TV episodes and films, making Hulu the most complete solution for the new generation of streamers. At the end of the fiscal year, Hulu Plus Live TV surpassed 4,000,000 paying subscribers, making it the number 1 digital MVPD service in the U. S. And the 5th largest U. S.
Pay TV provider overall. Our live TV business offers an incredible value proposition for consumers, as well as positive economics for Hulu. In addition to our new $65 monthly subscriber fee, Hulu plus Live TV also now generates an average of about $10 per subscriber in ad revenue per month and therefore drives positive contribution margin. On the SVOD side, Hulu has built a go to content offering for people who love TV. It uniquely combines award winning Hulu original series and films with next day episodes of today's biggest hits, popular feature films and a massive library of fan favorite series from Scrubs to Scandal and ER to Empire, Hulu has TV fans covered.
So what does the future look like? We see a tremendous opportunity to create even more innovative, differentiated content experiences around the world class episodic and feature length programming being made by the Disney Studios and FX. You'll hear more from Dana Walden and John Landgraf later. But I want to take a moment to call out 3 content initiatives that exemplify what Hulu uniquely can bring to subscribers. Earlier this year, we launched FX on Hulu, which brings together more than 40 acclaimed and award winning FX series, including exclusive originals.
This delivers a new younger audience to FX content and provides an exclusive premium experience for our viewers. Since launching in March, the overall average reach of FX series has increased by nearly 50% on top of their linear audience. The comedy Dave in particular was a smash hit on Hulu, more than doubling the reach of the show's linear broadcast. We've also partnered with ABC News to bring important live news, including coverage of the recent election to Hulu's millions of on demand subscribers, something that no other SVOD service in the U. S.
Offers. During this election season, nearly 4,000,000 of Hulu's SVOD subscribers engaged with the election coverage through ABC News Live. And I'm happy to report that we plan to expand our partnership with ABC News to include new original content that will live exclusively on Hulu. The 3rd initiative I'd like to highlight on the content side is Hulu's momentum in the original film space. We've had great success this year with Hulu original films, including the Andy Samberg comedy Palm Springs, indie film hit Bad Hair and our recent thriller Run starring Emmy winner Sarah Paulson.
Going forward, Hulu will launch exclusive original films produced by 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. We'll have more news on this front in the coming months. Now, on the product side, I'm excited to announce that ESPN plus and its incredible sports programming will become available for viewing directly within the Hulu interface early next year. This means that Hulu subscribers will be able to sign up for and access ESPN plus content right in their Hulu experience without ever having to leave the Hulu app. No presentation about Hulu would be complete without a look at our superpower, advertising.
For years, Hulu has driven the growth of advertising and streaming TV and is now with the power of Disney ad sales behind us, the undisputed leader in ad supported streaming TV. In fact, Hulu now has over 92,000,000 ad supported viewers, double where we were just 2 years ago. Hulu's increasing scale in ad supported video is driven by a number of key advantages. We have over a dozen years of experience in this space. Our focus on automation tools for advertisers, both big and small, has resulted in a rapidly growing programmatic channel that's setting daily records for new customers and for revenue.
And with our new Hulu Ad Manager platform, Disney is the 1st to make premium streaming TV advertising the first to make premium streaming TV advertising inventory directly available to the more than 28,000,000 small and medium sized businesses in the U. S. All of this, our incredible content, seamless product experience and viewer first advertising translates into tremendous financial upside. And thanks to the company's strength in advertising, the underlying economics of Hulu's ad supported product, even at the consumer friendly $5.99 price point are generally on par of that with the no ads product. We're really proud of what we've built at Hulu and of where Hulu is today.
And with an infusion of even more content from our creative partners at Disney Television Studios, FX, ABC News, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. We are incredibly optimistic about our future. Now, let's turn it over to Michael Paul, who will share an ESPN plus business update.
Thanks, Kelly. Hulu's future with its unique and differentiated set of live events, original programming and editorial content. Our business strategy includes diversified revenue streams across subscription, advertising and pay per view. We are really proud of the progress we've made to date. Our offering is clearly resonating with sports fans with subscribers nearly tripling in the past year and we have already passed the midpoint of the 2024 subscriber guidance that we gave at last year's Investor Day.
Despite an unprecedented year of disruptions, ESPN plus has delivered over 10,000 live sporting events, including all of our top 10 most viewed events ever, with 9 of those coming since May. We remain the destination for UFC fans with millions of pay per view buys over the past year and reached as many as a 1000000 readers per month of ESPN plus premium editorial content. And as Kelly mentioned, making ESPN Plus available for viewing and purchase directly within Hulu will only increase our ability to reach new fans and attract new ones. None of the success we've seen would be possible without the strength of the ESPN brands and our best in class sports content strategy. To dive a little deeper into those topics, I'll now hand it over to Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN and Sports
Content. Thanks, Michael. Sports are arguably the most powerful and compelling live content available and are only growing in their importance. In fact, last year, 92 of the top 100 most watched telecast were sports. That's up from 56 in 2,009.
And at the Walt Disney Company, we offer an unparalleled array of live sports across our platforms. The ESPN, ABC, ESPN Digital and ESPN Plus combination is a unique reach machine, a machine that allows us to bring sports fans best in class production and storytelling wherever they are. Across our portfolio, ESPN reaches more than 200,000,000 U. S. Sports fans in a given month.
That's on par with the total reach of both Google and Facebook. In 2019 and for the 10th consecutive year, our flagship linear network was the number one full time cable network among the coveted adult 18 to 49 demographic. In digital, ESPN is the number one sports brand and by a wide margin in both reach and total time spent. Sports betting also continues to be an important area of growth for us. Our all new ESPN studio in Las Vegas debuted in August and in September, we announced market leading partnerships with both Caesars and DraftKings.
We'll continue to lean into sports betting as it represents a key opportunity to better serve our most passionate fans and appeal to a younger audience. Overall, our priority is to make content available across all platforms and that includes a strong focus on a direct to consumer future. Our underlying goal is to acquire, create and distribute the best sports content and to do so in a way that serves fans, maximizes consumption and best positions our business to continue to be the leader in an evolving sports media environment. We continue to expand our number one portfolio of marquee multi platform rights. And I'm excited to announce today that we've reached an agreement with the Southeastern Conference to expand our partnership and add college football's most watched TV package beginning with the 2024 season.
As a part
of this deal, ABC will become the new home for the SEC's marquee Saturday afternoon football games beginning in 2024 as well as select Saturday primetime games and the annual SEC Football Championship Game. In addition, select SEC Football games will be made available on ESPN plus beginning with next football season and extending throughout the term. That means that ESPN plus will feature games from the conference that has won 10 of the last 14 national championships beginning in 2021. With this long term agreement, ESPN, ABC, SEC Network and ESPN plus will all together be the exclusive home
of the
SEC across all sports. In terms of ESPN plus our content strategy mirrors the overall ESPN content strategy, offer the best live rights, the best surround programming across studio, audio and written editorial and the best original sports content. Last year, our subscribers watched over 5,000,000,000 minutes of live sports content. Soccer, UFC, top ranked boxing and college sports are cornerstones of the product. However, ESPN plus also offers a host of other marquee content like MLB, NHL, MLS, and as you saw in November, the Masters.
And this is just the beginning. Like the SEC, we've strategically and opportunistically pursued new multi platform rights for ESPN plus with Bundesliga one of the latest on a long list. We're especially excited about our upcoming launch of the PGA Tour on ESPN plus where we've secured exclusive rights to PGA Tour Live and will offer 4 live feeds covering up to 8 groups per tournament. ESPN plus also offers some of the biggest sports personalities and stories to keep sports fans engaged year round. Today, I'm excited to announce that we'll be launching a new daily morning highlights program exclusively on ESPN plus which will recap the previous night's action through the lens of opinion, debate and social media.
This new series will go deep on news, highlights and trending topics each day with exclusive talent and insightful guests joining every show. Additionally, I'm thrilled to announce that early next year, be launching a new studio show that will be exclusive to ESPN plus featuring Stephen A. Smith. We're excited to bring another personality of his caliber to
the platform and look forward to further expanding
his reach across our different consumer touch points. In terms of originals on ESPN plus we can't wait for the upcoming Man in the Arena, a 9 part series built around Tom Brady's never before seen firsthand account of the unique journey to each of his 9 Super Bowls. And ESPN plus will remain the exclusive home of the critically acclaimed 30 for 30 franchise, NFL Primetime, V Tail and of course Peyton's Places. I'm very excited to let you know today that we're bringing back Peyton's Places for a 3rd season and also expanding the Emmy nominated series. But enough from me, Peyton, why don't you give them a little flavor of what's to come?
Hey, folks, Peyton Manning here. We're smack in the middle of the 2nd season of Peyton's Places. And if I told you that I'm just tickled pink about how the show has expanded into colorful and compelling new horizons across the glorious football landscape, you'd say that someone in sales definitely wrote that for me. And you'd be right. But, hey, it's the truth.
I really do have the greatest job on the planet because in season 2, I get to hang out with likes of John Elway, Tara Owens, Ronnie Lott, Marshawn Lynch, President Bill Clinton, and even my old pal, David Letterman. Anyway, the best is yet to come as some of the most engaging storytellers from other sports get their very own versions of Peyton's Places, including Abby Wambach, Ronda Rousey and David Ortiz. Big Poppy's Places does have a nice ring to it. And if that wasn't enough to get you jacked up, my little brother Eli will also be doing a college football show. So get yourself the whole Disney bundle and join me on ESPN Plus.
It's on Jimmy.
I don't know about that one, Payton, but thank you very much. We're really looking forward to the expansion of this fantastic series. As you can tell, it's an exciting time to be working on sports at the Walt Disney Company. And as we move forward, we'll continue to build the platform flexibility we need in order to deliver against our mission to serve sports fans anytime, anywhere. We'll continue to listen and respond to our fans.
And as they increasingly turn to direct to consumer platforms, we'll evolve the ESPN offering to meet their needs. Our unique ability to reach fans with compelling sports programming across linear, digital and direct to consumer platforms will further augment our market leadership in the sports space, and we couldn't be more excited about our future. Lowell, back to you.
Thanks, Jimmy.
We will now take a 10 minute break to give you an opportunity to stretch your legs and grab a snack. And when we resume, we'll be joined by Bob Iger, Disney's Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board. As Executive Chairman, Bob directs the company's creative endeavors and he will introduce the amazing content lineup we are developing for our direct to consumer services. So thanks, and we'll see you all in 10 minutes.
Yes, Okay. Can I just say something crazy?
I love crazy.
All my life has been a series of doors in my face. And then suddenly, I bump into you.
I'm just thinking the same thing. Just like, I've been searching my whole life to find my own place.
And maybe it's a party
I mean, it's crazy. We finish each other's. Sandwiches. That's what I was gonna say.
I've never met someone who thinks so much like I've been staring at the edge of the water long as I can remember never really knowing why. I wish I could be the perfect daughter, but I come back to the water no matter how hard I try. Every turn I take, every trail I track, every path I make, every road leads back to a place I know where I cannot go where I long to. See the light of the size to see it called me. And
When I became CEO 15 years ago, I envisioned a world where distribution powered by transformative technology would expand dramatically, almost to the point of becoming a commodity. If we could harness that technology and couple it with our extraordinary content, we would be well positioned to not only withstand disruption, but to thrive in a new increasingly dynamic environment. That thinking led to the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox, each bringing with them a breathtaking array of branded content and the ability to create even more of it. Fast forward, and in just a year, we've established ourselves as one of the true leaders in the direct to consumer space. And what you'll see today reflects an increased commitment to focus the resources and immense creativity across our company on delivering an extraordinary direct to consumer experience unlike anything else that's in the market.
You're about to hear from our amazing executives and get a preview of what they've been hard at work creating for Hulu, Star and Disney plus We love what we are seeing, and we're confident audiences around the world will too. When I stepped down as CEO 9 months ago, my priority became the supervision of our content creation across all segments and territories with a focus on leveraging our brands and expanding on what we've already achieved. The single most effective way to grow our subscriber base is with great content. And as we increase our output, the emphasis will always be on quality, not volume. Quality holds its value, and that has been our mantra for as long as we've been telling stories.
In fact, one thing you'll notice immediately is the high quality of our storytelling, and it is evident across all of our distribution platforms. Production values and talent for our streaming content, both in front of and behind the camera, are on par with our theatrical releases. Truly, the only difference between these and our feature films is length. You'll also see that we are redoubling our efforts to create rich, diverse content that best represents the world we live in and the consumers that we're making that content for. It's very important to us that when people watch our shows and movies, they see themselves and their experiences reflected in our stories.
And by further expanding our storytelling to include a multitude of perspectives, we believe we will forge an even stronger connection with our consumers. We've got an incredible slate of new content to show you today. It's going to take us a while to get through all of it, but we promise you it will be worth sticking around for. And since all of you are watching this from home, it's not like you have anywhere else to go. Dana Walden will kick things off, but first, here's a great sizzle of what's in store for our general entertainment platforms.
Enjoy.
Hello. What you just saw in that reel and all around me are some of the biggest hits in the TV industry. And here's what they have in common. They've all been developed and produced by content creators inside the Walt Disney Company. These are high quality, award winning, creatively adventurous shows.
They've won audiences and acclaim at home and around the world. Our teams have produced the top ranked show for every broadcast network and many cable channels. And now we're laser focused on creating great content for Disney's streaming platforms. Our content strategy, highly curated programming, we're making hard choices about which shows we produce, landing on content that feels special and is both highly entertaining and part of the cultural conversation, shows like Little Fires Everywhere. This was the addictive hit starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.
It was huge on Hulu, proving the value of juicy can't turn it off content. Next year, we have new series coming from many of our studios' long time partners, including the creators of This Is Us, New Girl and Empire. So how do we know these are the right creators? Because the shows I just mentioned have all been hits here and around the world, and this is what they have coming up. Only Murders in the Building reunites 2 comedy legends.
They'll be joined by one of the most popular stars on the planet, someone who has over 370,000,000 followers. These next two series are ripped from the headlines, the type of stories our audience loves. The Dropout is the unbelievable story of Elizabeth Holmes. She's the Silicon Valley con artist who captivated the world. This show started with a gripping investigation and Dopesick is a deeply emotional drama series.
It's about heroes who are battling the worst drug crisis in history. It's an important story and we've assembled an all star team to tell it. So 3 distinctive series from 3 great creators, all featuring major stars and all available on Hulu and Star. And in addition to shows we own, Hulu will also continue to pick series from outside studios, especially shows from exceptional creators like David E. Kelley.
He's one of my favorite writers and I'm proud to have worked with him for the past 28 years. From Ally McBeal to Big Little Lies, his shows are huge everywhere. And the next one is for Hulu. 9 Perfect Strangers is a thriller that attracted 2 of the biggest stars working today. Returning hits like Golden Globe winner, Rami, Emmy nominated The Great and Emmy Golden Globe and Peabody Award winner, The Handmaid's Tale.
The Handmaid's Tale is a cultural phenomenon. It's a juggernaut. There are many critically acclaimed shows out there, but none have pierced the culture like this one.
Wake up, America. We're just getting started.
She is out there planning who knows what kind of atrocity to visit upon our righteous
nation. What
happens in the next few weeks
will determine the future of this country.
Change never comes easy. This war isn't going to win itself.
Mustn't be the
Handmaids is the biggest hit in the history of Hulu and we are committed to its future. As a matter of fact, I'm happy to announce today that we're ordering Season 5. Now I want to talk about adult animation for just a moment. Look at the shows we've produced over the past 3 decades. We have the largest library anywhere and we're making more than 1500 episodes of about reality shows because the Hulu audience loves them.
But remember our strategy for originals, it's not about volume. It's about picking the right ideas and the perfect partners. Noisy breakout stars who create conversation. Well, no one does it better than this group. We're thrilled to bring these global stars to a global audience.
What I've shared today is just some of what's in store. Our biggest hit makers are creating great shows that we will make available to Hulu and Star. They'll join an incredible lineup from our vast library. It's truly game changing. And speaking of game changers, I'm happy to introduce the longtime leader of the most prestigious brand in our industry.
Here's my great colleague, John Landgraf, to talk about FX.
Thanks very much, Dana. I've been honored to be your colleague over these many years, and I'm so happy we get to continue our wonderful partnership at our new home. 25 years ago, FX began as a location rather than a mark of any particular distinction or quality. Specifically, FX was just the name of a linear channel in a cable program guide. Still, one thing we all know from the great legacy of Disney is that if you work hard enough, you can sometimes take a once ordinary location, just a vacant plot of land and invest enough and creativity in it to make it an extraordinary destination and brand.
Over the past 20 years, by working with great creative talent to bring exceptionally compelling original stories and characters to our audience, FX has made the name of our little channel, one of the more than 500 just like it, into something truly special. So how did we get here? We focused relentlessly on giving our audience some of the very best television anywhere and they it might be located by earning love show after show, it might be located by earning love show after show and year after year from the fans of our distinct and reliably excellent original programming. This is because FX shows consistently score incredibly high marks with audiences. For the past 18 years, since the launch of our first premium original series, the award winning and history making drama, The Shield, the FX batting average in user ratings at the Internet Movie Database on a scale of 1 to 10 is among the best in U.
S. Television at every elite level, 7 out of 10 stars and above, 7.5 and above, 8 and above and 8.5 and above. These are batting average for quality for our scripted television programs premiering in the U. S. For almost 2 decades.
For example, a remarkable 78% of all FX shows are rated 7.5 out of 10 or above by IMDB users. And we fare even better on Rotten Tomatoes. There, 74% of our shows post an audience score of 80% or better. In fact, for every original FX series ever made, the overall average score with Rotten Tomatoes audiences stands at an incredible 86%. However, despite FX's 2 decades of creating excellent shows, much of that success achieved side by side with my longtime creative colleague and partner, Dana Walden, linear channels are just not the optimal location for a couple of 1,000 great episodes of television.
And that fact caused many FX original series to be licensed and scattered across numerous other platforms, sometimes resulting in confusion as to which brand was actually responsible for fostering these beloved shows. But along came Disney, which acquired both FX and a majority stake in Hulu and then enhanced the growth of FX as a brand by creating an FX branded presence on Hulu, which has now become the singular U. S. Streaming location at which the past, present and future of FX's great shows could be gathered. On Hulu, FX has been able to reclaim 18 years of great work and to finally distill our brand's entire legacy in a permanent streaming home as the foundation of quality that it is.
This alone has been thrilling, but it has also allowed us to do so much more. Since March, we have made all of our great FX linear originals available to Hulu subscribers the day after they premiere on our channels. To put the extraordinary impact of this opportunity in perspective, the average audience of FX scripted series launched on Hulu has increased 120% over their audience on our channels and VOD sites alone, 120%. And with the expansion of distribution that Hulu provides, every single one of FX's returning series has posted year over year viewership increases. So the addition of the FX brand has significantly expanded the audience reach for FX and added to the outstanding results Hulu has already been achieving with their own excellent original programming, but the best is still to come.
Because of production delays due to COVID-nineteen, the full benefit of FX's hit current programming has yet to be realized. However, most of our shows are back up and running and we expect to begin rolling out shows again early next year. New seasons of FX Linear series coming soon to Hulu subscribers include Atlanta, American Horror Story, Dave, What We Do in the Shadows, Mayans, Better Things, Snowfall and Archer. And I'm delighted to announce today 4 more seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which will take Sunny to season 18, 4 seasons longer than the prior record holder for longest running live action sitcom in television history, Ozzie and Harriet. Even more importantly, the FX brand is now expanding its offering of original programs by making exclusive branded FX original series for Hulu.
We will also make those shows available globally to star. FX had outstanding success last year with our first 3 FX exclusives on Hulu, Mrs. America, Debs and A Teacher. And even with COVID-nineteen slowing us down, our FX on Hulu exclusive slate expands next year to include The Old Man starring Jeff Bridges, American Horror Stories, a new anthology series by Ryan Murphy spun off from our biggest, longest running FX original drama hit an innovative scripted anthology about the craziest aspects of pop culture from BJ Novak, an actor and award winning writer of The Office. Preservation Dogs, a new half hour series co created by Academy Award winner Taika Waititi and Sterling Harjo, a Native American who also directed the pilot episode and Y the Last Man, a new drama series based on the acclaimed and beloved graphic novels starring Diane Lane.
You can see how well Disney strategy to brand FX content is already working and how bright the future is for both the FX brand and for the contributions it will make to both Hulu in the U. S. And Star internationally. The FX brand will quickly be able to double our output, making and marketing about 30 original programs each year. While I know that doesn't sound like a huge number in the era of peak TV, I assure you that these 30 shows will punch vastly above their numerical weight, just as FX Originals always have, because we will strive as always to ensure that every single one of them will be excellent.
A truly great aspect of the streaming era as Disney quickly and overwhelmingly demonstrated with Disney plus and as FX has now been able to replicate with the success of FX Originals streamed on Hulu, is that today's new programming is tomorrow's library. Because of this, FX and all of Disney's many brands can create incredible long term value for fans and shareholders because we know that streaming subscribers will now be able to easily and conveniently find treasure and share their favorite series and characters. Disney has always understood that quality is the surest path to value, which is why for almost a century, it has devoted itself more than any other entertainment company to consistently creating truly great and memorable stories. FX belongs at Disney because we fervently share this belief and the marrow of our brand is built on it. Finally, I'll conclude today's presentation with a few examples of some new and unique branded FX original series that are currently in the pipeline.
We are moving quickly to bring audiences the 1st television series based on one of the greatest science fiction horror classics ever made, Alien. FX's Alien will be helmed by Fargo and Legion's Noah Hawley stepping into the creator, Executive Producer Chair, working alongside Sir Ridley Scott. Set not too far into our future, it's the first Alien story set on earth. And by blending both the timeless horror of the first Alien film with a non stop action of the second, it's going to be a scary thrill ride that will blow people back in their seats. And finally, we'll be embarking on one of the most sweeping, sophisticated and adult series FX has ever created, a retelling of Clavell's beloved epic saga, Shogunn.
Set within the riveting and real Game of Thrones that was feudal Japan, it is adapted by Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo. Tim Van Patten, the highly decorated award winning producer of The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire and the Director of the pilot and early episodes of Game of Thrones has signed on to bring this giant and visceral canvas to life. So those are just some of the many exciting projects we have in our slate, along with a number of others in early development that we will be announcing in the coming months. All of us at FX are truly honored to be part of the Walt Disney Company, where we will continue our mission to deliver outstanding adult programs that engender passion from our viewers and to grow the FX brand's value as a beacon of quality within TV's streaming future. That's it for me today.
Thanks for your time. And now back to Rebecca Campbell.
Thank you, John. We believe that Hulu, Star, Star Plus and Disney Plus Hotstar are perfectly suited to host the general entertainment content we create from our world class production engines. Our Hulu joint venture will continue to license all original scripted streaming content and most off network content created by Disney Television Studios and FX. Star, Star Plus and Disney Plus Hotstar will be the exclusive home of our original content and much of the off network content outside of the United States. Also, each of these services will be enhanced by the addition of local programming.
So looking ahead, our plan is to grow with premium content for everyone, engaging our existing subscribers and helping us to attract new ones. And now, we're going to switch gears. It's time to hear from our brilliant content creators for Disney plus Starting with Lucasfilm, please welcome Kathleen Kennedy.
Thank you, Rebecca. It's remarkable to be back here with you again for another Investor Day and reflect on all that's happened since we last gathered in April of 2019. Our world and our entire industry has been thrown numerous challenges that none of us could have foreseen. As we grapple with one of the most difficult periods in modern history, it's clear that we need great storytelling and the joy of entertainment more than ever before. Last year, we were looking ahead to the launch of Disney plus with our very first live action series, The Mandalorian.
Star Wars was moving into new territory in the streaming space on a brand new platform, creating an original series through groundbreaking technology and an entirely new approach to production and filmmaking. It was a big bet and a leap of faith. The Mandalorian debuted on Disney plus in November of 2019 and the response has been overwhelming. We could not be more humbled by the reception to the show, the honor of 7 Emmy Awards and the enormous support our fans have shown us. With The Mandalorian on Disney plus we have ushered in an entirely new era for Star Wars and there's more to come.
We premiered Season 2 on October 30 and Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni continuing the journey of The Mandalorian and the Child. Audiences around the world have joined the adventure on Disney plus traveling to new planets with incredible action, larger than life creatures delivering a complete cinematic experience. Let's take a look at Season 2.
You're
very special, kid. I agreed to take you back to your own kind. So that's what I need to do. And they're going to take real good care of you. I've been quested with returning this child to the Jedi.
What do you
know of the Jedi?
Nothing.
I can lead you to one of their kind.
But first, we
need your help on our mission.
Mission.
How's my credit around here?
And you come here, little boy. Have you been taking good care of him? Has Mando been taking good care of you, Yeah. Yeah.
What is that thing?
I keep it around for luck.
You're going to need it where you're headed.
He needs your help.
The Jedi Order fell a long time ago.
So did the Empire, yet it still hunts him.
Long live the Empire.
Long live the Empire.
I've been tracking you, Mandalorian. I'm here for the armor.
If you want my armor, you'll have to peel it off my dead body.
I don't want your armor. I want my
Today, I'm excited to share with you that John and Dave are concurrently developing 2 new spin off series exclusively for Disney plus 1, the Rangers of the New Republic and the other featuring fan favorite, Ahsoka Tano. Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, these interconnected shows along with future stories will excite new audiences, embrace our most passionate fans and will culminate in a climactic story event. The next chapter will debut on Disney plus Christmas of 2021. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by incredible talent, both in front of and behind the camera, with a company full of people who care passionately about high quality storytelling. A few times in my career, I've had a chance to be part of game changing technology, moments when a new way of filmmaking changed the way stories could be told forever.
Working with Jon Favreau to create the world of The Mandalorian with our own stagecraft technology has been one of those moments. Stagecraft is a new virtual production tool that utilizes the latest innovations in real time graphics and massive LED screens that allows us to bring entire locations into a sound stage and photograph them live, telling stories in ways we could only dream of a few years ago. This new collaboration process brings the artists and the crews into a creative partnership with efficiencies that now marry preproduction, production and post, all in sync to preserve the cinematic culture around the singular artistic vision. By eliminating unnecessary travel, a more controlled environment and efficiencies with set design and special effects that allow for an in camera visual experience. Actors are immersed in those environments rather than having to imagine what they're seeing or reacting to.
And ironically, the efficiency of stagecraft has allowed us to continue to work during this pandemic. On The Mandalorian Season 2, we expanded stagecraft's capabilities further and built an even larger volume. Additionally, we are building 3 more volumes right now in Los Angeles, London and Australia, advancing the Disney owned technology and building the studio of the future. We have a vast and expansive timeline in the Star Wars mythology, spanning over 25,000 years of history in the galaxy, with each era being a rich resource for storytelling. Now with Disney plus we can explore limitless story possibilities like never before and fulfill the promise that there is truly a Star Wars story for everyone.
1 of the most exciting and ambitious new series we have coming to Disney plus in 2022 is Andor, a tense nail biting spy thriller in the Star Wars universe created by Tony Gilroy. Tony's incredible success with the Bourne Identity films distinguishes him as one of today's best creators of the modern spy genre. We couldn't be more thrilled to have him at the helm of this new series for Star Wars. Diego Luna will be back in the role of Rebel spy Cassian Endor from Rogue 1 and he will be joined by a fantastic new cast that includes Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gauff, Kyle Soller and Genevieve O'Reilly, Esmahn Mothma. We just began production in London 2 weeks ago.
Here's a special look at Andor.
Everything I did, I did for the Rubella. Rogue 1 in many ways, it's a film that connected new audiences with the oldest fans. It was a bittersweet feeling in the Premier, knowing that it was just one film. But then magic happens, right? As you can see, we're getting ready.
We're building stages. We're rehearsing. We're training. We're trying costumes. We're doing everything to make sure we do the best show.
I'm really excited of having the chance to explore Ascian. It's really fun to go on a set that is emulating something you like so much.
The enormity of this is like doing a big feature film.
It's very cinematic. For me, that's what the excitement is.
12 episodes, 12 scripts, over 200 named cast members, over 6,000 crowd people, a lot of creatures coming from the creature department. We treat this exactly like we would have filmed? There is no difference in our approach.
Every creature and droid that we've been building has the same care and level of attention to detail as the previous films.
It's huge. It's thrilling, but also it's one of
Last August at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, we announced the return of Ewan McGregor in the iconic role of Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi for a special event series on Disney plus Obi Wan Kenobi begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Revenge of the Sith, where he faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Our fans will be thrilled that Hayden Christensen will be returning in the role of Darth Vader. This will be the rematch of the century. The series is directed by Deborah Chow coming off the great work she did with us as a director on Season 1 of The Mandalorian. Production will begin in March of next year.
Here's an early look at Obi Wan Kenobi. During our 1st year on Disney plus our animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, saw tremendous success with its epic 7th and final season. Building on the legacy of The Clone Wars, our new animated series, The Bad Batch, follows the specialist commandos of Clone Force 99 as they embark on new missions in a rapidly changing galaxy. This is the Bad Batch.
They call themselves the Bad Batch.
That was quite an impressive display.
Visions will be a series of animated short films celebrating the Star Wars galaxy through the lens of the world's best anime creators. This anthology collection will bring 10 fantastic visions from several of the leading Japanese anime studios, offering a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars. Lando Calrissian is the galaxy's smoothest, most notorious scoundrel and he'll return in a brand new event series for Disney plus Justin Simien, creator of the critically acclaimed and hugely popular Dear White People is developing the story with us now. A massive Star Wars fan himself, Justin has put together a reel to give you a sense of the style, tone and irresistible swagger of our upcoming series, Lando. Take a look.
Leslie Hedlund, Emmy nominated creator of the mind bending series Russian Doll, is a boldly innovative filmmaker bringing her new Star Wars series to Disney plus The Acolyte is a mystery thriller that will take us into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. As we continue to develop new stories, the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities for us to explore. Lucasfilm Animation will be teaming up with our unparalleled visual effects team ILM to develop a special Star Wars adventure for Disney plus A DROID STORY. This epic journey will introduce us to a new hero guided by our most iconic duo, R2 D2 and C-3PO, on a special mission known only to them. What could possibly go wrong?
Outside of the Star Wars galaxy, we're expanding Lucasfilm's presence on Disney plus with another beloved mythological world created by George Lucas, Willow. This series will be set decades after Ron Howard's 1988 movie, continuing the spirit of adventure, heroics and humor of the original film. We're delighted that Warwick Davis will be returning in the role of the great sorcerer, Willow Uphgood. We have a wonderful creative team at the helm. John Chu, Director of the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Agents, will be directing the pilot.
Willow begins shooting next March in Wales and will debut on Disney plus in 2022. Here's the team to share more. We also have some news to share on our theatrical slate. We're in preproduction on the next and final installment of Indiana Jones. At the helm, we have James Mangold, Director of the Academy Award winning film Ford versus Ferrari and of course, Indy himself, Harrison Ford, will be back to conclude this iconic character's journey.
Indy will begin shooting late spring of 2021 and will be released in July of 2022. Our slate is expanding further with a story that will introduce a new hero and explore an original world that feels perfectly paired with Lucasfilm storytelling. We're proud to bring to the screen author Tomi Adeyemi's New York Times best selling novel, Children of Blood and Bone. This story will center around a young African girl's heart racing quest to restore magic to her forsaken people, the Magi. Tomy was recently included in the TIME 100's list of most influential people of 2020.
We're proud to be partnering with the 20th Century Studios on this coming of age adventure. Our Star Wars theatrical slate is pushing forward into a new future era. As we announced recently, we're currently developing a brand new Star Wars feature with acclaimed Filmmaker Academy Award winner, Taika Watiti. Taika's approach to Star Wars will be fresh, unexpected and unique. His enormous talent and sense of humor will ensure that audiences are in for an unforgettable ride.
He's currently hard at work writing this next adventure. And to close today, I couldn't be more excited that our next Star Wars feature film will be directed by Patty Jenkins. Patty, director of the Wonder Woman franchise, will bring her inspired vision to Rogue Squadron. This story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary pushing high speed thrill ride. The legend of Rogue Squadron has been long beloved by Star Wars fans and will move us into a future era of the galaxy.
Rogue Squadron will be released in theaters Christmas of 2023. As you can see, this is a new era for Star Wars and Lucasfilm with expanded opportunities for continued innovation, high quality storytelling and cinematic experiences like never before. And now, I'm pleased to introduce Courtney Monroe, President of National Geographic Content.
Thank you, Kathy. National Geographic has been entertaining global audiences with groundbreaking visually spectacular storytelling for over 130 years. And now, more than 1500 hours of National Geographic content is available on Disney plus including award winning documentaries, landmark wildlife and natural history and premium fast paced scripted drama. Today, I'm thrilled to announce an ambitious new slate of original shows exclusively for Disney plus subscribers, inspiring stories that celebrate real world heroes and icons and that ignite curiosity, awe and wonder. I can't think of a better example of those values than our award winning National Geographic documentary films, including Free Solo and Jane, both of which are available now on Disney plus And I'm delighted to introduce you to one of our upcoming National Geographic documentary films, Profiling an Extraordinary Icon, Cousteau, a new documentary from Oscar nominated and Emmy winning director, Liz Garbus.
Mention Jacques Cousteau to someone my age and their eyes light up, recalling vivid memories of his thrilling underwater adventures. This film will not only delight those fans, but it will also introduce him to a whole new generation of aspiring explorers. Featuring never before seen archival footage, Cousteau will provide a deep dive into the fascinating life of the man who first showed us the beauty and wonder under the sea. While most National Geographic content is nonfiction, we have also developed Emmy winning dramas about real world heroes and icons. Icons, like those profiled in our scripted anthology series, Genius, which beginning with the 4th season will be available exclusively to Disney plus subscribers.
From executive producers, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, Genius tells the fascinating and dramatic stories of the world's most brilliant innovators, exploring their extraordinary achievements and often complicated lives. In the next season of Genius, we will profile the remarkable life of Nobel Peace Prize winner and civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr, dramatizing his journey to becoming one of the most influential and inspirational leaders in history. National Geographic's iconic yellow border is synonymous with exploration, From planting our flag on Everest to trekking the forest of Tanzania with Jane Goodall, National Geographic has long inspired people to care about the planet. Continuing that legacy, we are announcing several new blue chip National Geographic Science and Natural History series exclusively for Disney Plus. First up, from National Geographic Explorer, large and award winning filmmaker, James Cameron and National Geographic Explorer and photographer, Ryan Sterry, comes the stunning Secrets of the Whale, narrated by Sigourney Weaver.
With breakthrough science and never before captured behavior, Secrets of the Whale showcases 5 different whale species in all their visual splendor, revealing the extraordinary culture of the world's most intelligent giants. Have a look. Their beauty absolutely takes my breath away. Moving on, who knew that beneath our feet exists a tiny magical world bursting with action, adventure and even love. Using the very latest miniaturized camera technology, our new series, A Real Bugs Life, will transport viewers into this mesmerizing place where microscopic creatures play out the drama of life.
From the savannahs of Africa to the urban underworld of New York City, we'll discover a great big world buzzing with tiny little heroes. Then, America the Beautiful, the ultimate portrait of America's wildlife and wild places from sea to shining sea. This ambitious new series will celebrate America's most iconic landscape from the frozen North to the Wild West to the Deep South and apply the most technologically ambitious Hollywood film making to the world of natural history. For example, we recently obtained an exclusive first ever film permit for a fighter jet equipped with a gyro stabilized 8 ks camera to fly close to the speed of sound across 7 U. S.
National Parks that were closed to the public due to the pandemic. As you can see, the footage is incredible and the opportunity to capture it in this way may never happen again. Oscar nominated and visionary filmmaker Darren Aronofsky that feature 2 of the biggest movie stars on the planet. First, Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. New scientific research is shattering conventional wisdom about the human body, revealing how we can all unlock our own body superpowers to fight illness, perform better and actually reverse the aging process.
Count me in. In this series, the science is put to the test by Chris, who despite being in peak superhero condition, is on a personal mission to learn how to stay young, healthy, strong and resilient. Limitless with Chris Hemsworth is 1 part science, 1 part action adventure. This is Limitless.
What do you fear about getting old?
Not being mobile, not being active with the point It scares the hell out of me. The show is all about pushing my body to the absolute extreme to live a longer, healthier, happier life.
Do you think I'm going to be
able to hold together? No.
We've come out here just
to see how battle ready your body is to combat aging.
I'm equally excited as I am intimidated.
I, as a 36 year old healthy guy, even thinking about this, I would say this is exactly the time to think about it.
This is not harder than anything you've done so far. There is a real risk you could die.
Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? This is all about longevity.
That's so good, Mark.
So challenging physically and emotionally. 4 days, no food. I'm not even remotely tempted by this delicious crispy bacon and egg. I don't want to continue to push myself in ways that I never thought were possible. Let's get on with it, shall
we? Never do that again.
Finally, our epic news series Welcome to Earth featuring Will Smith as he guides viewers on an extraordinary journey around the globe. Welcome to Earth follows Will and his insatiable curiosity to some of the most extreme and exciting places on the planet. We're standing next to him as he drops inside the lip of an active volcano, dives 3,000 feet below the surface of the ocean and rappels deep into an Icelandic glacier. In each location, revealing the hidden forces that shape our planet. With breathtaking cinematography from Darren Aronofsky, Welcome to Earth explores the mind blowing ways that our planet works.
Here is Welcome to Earth.
That's spectacular.
I'm throwing myself into the unknown. Will ready? Yes, sir.
2, 1, lights off. Let's see what's out there.
I think we might be doing too
much. What's the job?
I mean, that's big.
Yeah. We need to get the hell out of here.
Wow. Look at
We are without questions living in an extraordinary time. And yet, National Geographic reminds us that the world is still an amazing and miraculous place, filled with spectacular beauty and wonder, which we are thrilled to share with the Disney plus audience. And with that, it is my pleasure to welcome back my colleague, Dana Walden. Hello again. I'm so happy to be back talking about Disney plus All of us have loved developing for it, but only one of us has actually been living on it.
So I've traveled all the way to Springfield, still don't know what state I'm in, to talk to a member of our studio family for 30 years, Mr. Homer Simpson. So, Homer, what have you learned about Disney plus this year?
Wait, I didn't know there'd be a test. Well, I've learned how to find plus on my keyboard, and I've learned that armed bounty hunters make excellent nannies. And if you don't mind some creative criticism, live action Aladdin is a total rip off of this cartoon I saw called Disney's Aladdin. Frozen is not about my credit cards.
I would
kill for Fat Thor's body. Snow White finally exposes the dangers of eating apples. And in conclusion, Pixar is run by a jumping lamp. Now I'm going to throw it back to Dana who's going to tell you about all the great new projects that are going to be developed by the powerful television studios for Disney Plus. Allow me one personal note.
I was promised beer, and if I don't get it soon, I'm taking this guy with me.
I want to thank Homer and his family for helping to make Disney plus such a success. The Simpsons is one of the top titles on the platform in every country where it's launched so far. Now here's our development of Disney plus Originals. We have an expansive slate of family entertainment from comedies to epic dramas, shows that speak to a global audience executed by great creators, people who know how to produce big hits. You'll see that a number are based on iconic IP from the Disney library.
These are titles that are beloved. They're trusted by families, passed down through generations. It's a creator's dream to have access to them and gives us a real competitive edge. And I'll start with this one. The Mighty Ducks is the iconic movie that led to sequels and animated series NA's Stanley Cup winning hockey team.
The next installment, The Game Changers. We'll pick the story back up with a familiar face, lots of heart and humor and kids who can really skate, not all of them.
Are we ducks or what?
When you tell somebody you're working on the Mighty Ducks reboot, it needs no further introduction. We're going to make a lot of
championships. A little different than the ducks of the nineties. Come screen. Come screen. You know we play indoors, right?
Scrimmage now. Let's go.
I got to cut you. You can't be great at hockey. It's like, no bother.
Shouldn't kids be able to play sports for fun? Stephanie, you brought 2 private trainers to your kids hockey practice.
I'm a pediatric sports psychologist.
Okay. Let's
start our own team.
I want you to think about all the other kids who've been told that they're too small or too slow.
We need to be any good. No, I agree. I would not be an asset physically. I'm more of a podcast body.
I have 24 hours to find a coach.
You lost? If you're looking to rev skates, that's up
My mom doesn't seem
to care for any good or not.
I don't think the other kids care either.
Yeah. You
know who else doesn't care?
This guy. Wait, which guy?
This guy. Got to be more specific. Are you not getting this? You got to make this happen for yourself.
Let's do that.
Why do you care so much?
Because you care.
It's not over
yet.
Turner and Hooch is a charming buddy comedy. It stars Josh Peck in the role made famous by Tom Hanks. You may not know Josh, but I bet your kids do. His partner here is a sweet, but slobbery mastiff. Big Shot is an original concept from David E.
Kelley. It's a celebration of girl power set in the world of high school basketball. No one creates authentic relationships quite like David and few TV stars are as recognizable as this one.
I found something. It's not college. You need a second chance. This is the only one I could get. It's high school.
Sam, I can't coach a bunch of rich private school boys in
high school?
Personally, I
think it's all a big mistake, but I'm prepared to make the best of it.
Do not screw this up.
Holly Barrett, assistant coach.
Marvin Corr. Any advice?
Some of them can be a bit much.
I'm sorry, are you chewing gum?
This is Westbrook. We won't respond to my way
or the highway. I'm going
to teach you my system of basketball from the ground up. Smaller steps, but faster.
I figured it'd be rough, but this is next level.
We all just quit. Hey, Byron.
I think he wants to be a good person.
When they said you were coming, that meant something. I was excited. All I care about is basketball. It's about making my father proud.
After watching you play,
I truly believe
that we
could do something special. We're just getting started.
Connecting with these girls.
No, stop it. I just wanted to say
Big fun character based series like these are one segment of our content strategy. The other, dramas that are ambitious in scale that will be brought to life by A List talent. I'll start with 3 projects in development. Beauty and the Beast expands the universe of the blockbuster film, more than $1,000,000,000 in worldwide box office. LeFou and Gaston return, played by their original stars, Luke Evans and Josh Gass with all new music composed by Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony winner, Alan Menken.
Swiss Family Robinson reimagines the classic story. This is a collaboration between Ron Moore, the creator of Global Smashes Battlestar Galactica and Outlander and John Chu, the Director of Crazy Rich Asians. As you just heard, he's also directing Willow. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is one of the most popular books in the world. It sold more than 70,000,000 copies in 35 countries.
News of its development at Disney plus was the number one trending conversation in the world. It drove more than 1,000,000 tweets in the first 24 hours. And the final project I want to share is based on the international best selling book series, The Mysterious Benedict Society. Time Magazine called it one of the best young adult books of all time.
There is a place where truth matters, even if most people don't pay attention to it. It. Our organization is always searching for those who appreciate the truth.
If any child is caught cheating, they will be executed. Excused. Will be excused.
And our criteria for approval may be considered mysterious.
Mr. Benedicte, we have our
team. Hello?
I'm the aforementioned Mr. Benedict.
You all possess a quality that is lacking in our society.
Your reservoir of knowledge. Constantly. The refines of conventional thought patterns. Hey, your uncanny feel for how things go to cab there. What is it
that you all have in common?
I see fear and bad fashion. You're very unpleasant.
Okay. You're the only ones capable of seeing the truth and together you are immensely powerful.
We're asking you to go on a mission
that can only be accomplished by children. There is a sinister force brainwashing us.
And yes, he is my twin brother.
Incredible Disney library. We're looking forward to creating many more Disney plus Originals in the years ahead. And now it's my pleasure to introduce Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Production.
Wonderful stuff from Dana and her team. Thank you. Thank you so much. There are so many incredible dimensions to this company and my team and I have the honor of getting to focus on a treasure trove of iconic characters and stories that spring from the Disney imagination. As we continue to build on Disney's singular legacy of creating magic for audiences worldwide.
We have a lot of fun diving into our expansive library spanning nearly 100 years to bring beloved tales to life in new ways for today's viewers. The addition since last year of great franchise IP created out of 20th Century Studios means an even bigger sandbox to play in. One of the truly exciting things about Disney plus is the opportunity it has given us to greatly expand our storytelling across a variety of genres to bring compelling, original films from all around the world to the screen in a way that only Disney can. We have a ton of projects in the works, and I have the pleasure of taking you on a tour through the magical and memorable stories we're producing. Disney plus is already home to a massive collection of unforgettable movies from across the decades, the kind of movies you want to watch again and again with your family and friends.
We're right in the middle of the holiday season, and I'm sure, like me, you and your families have your favorite must watch movies for every season. On Disney plus we're continuing to create new holiday memories for fans and families around the world with such films as the delightful Noelle and the brand new Godmother. Of course, one of the most popular holidays is Halloween, And one of the most popular Halloween movies is the cult classic Hocus Pocus. And I'm happy to confirm, we are working on a treat for Disney plus audiences with a spooky sequel. In addition to Disney and 20th Century, we also have films from the Touchstone days that fit right in the Disney plus wheelhouse.
One such project we're excited about is a modern take on the hilarious 80s comedy 3 Men and a Baby. We are deep in development aiming for a 2022 release, and we could not be more thrilled to have Disney All Star Zac Efron attach the star. Now, we also love to tell real life stories of heroes from around the world, distinctly human stories that draw on emotion, inspiration and aspiration like Togo, which we premiered last year. Safety is inspired by the empowering story of Clemson University football player Ray McElrathby, who found himself raising his 11 year old brother while still in college. This uplifting drama from Marshall director, Reggie Hudlin debuts on Disney Plus tomorrow.
We are also working on a film based on the incredible story of Kenan Lowe, a high school coach who averted tragedy through compassion with a man of many talents Dwayne Johnson on board as a producer. Meanwhile, heading into production next year, Greek Freak is the remarkable story of NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family as they lifted themselves out of poverty as undocumented immigrants living in Greece, with Giannis ultimately finding himself on the world stage. And I can confirm we are developing a biographical film for Disney Plus with another NBA superstar, Chris Paul, whose past includes a deeply moving story of family, legacy, and destiny that helped make him who he is today. As you can tell, I do watch a fair amount of ESPN myself. Moving to another of our favorite genres, children's and young adult books certainly aren't just for kids.
They speak to the kid in all of us and they have the power to shape our understanding of the world. Flora and Ulysses is based on a Newbery Medal winning book about the misadventures of cynical young comic book fan, Flora and her super powered squirrel sidekick, Ulysses. Flora and Ulysses will debut on Disney plus this coming February. A little further ahead on the slate for 2022, we are reimagining the hit comedy Cheaper by the Dozen with Blackish producer Kenya Barris, it's centered around a multiracial blended family of 12, navigating a hectic home life while managing their family business. I'm thrilled to share that Gabrielle Union is set to star in this reboot.
And we're revisiting the beloved Diary of Wimpy Kids series, which has spawned a successful live action film franchise from the books. The series remains as popular as ever. In fact, the latest Wimpy Kid book released in October was an instant New York Times bestseller. In our new film, our intrepid hero, Greg Heffley, gets an all new look, and he's well, a little animated about it. In expanding our focus on content development for streaming, we think there are some great worlds and stories.
Separate from the amazing original work coming out of our animation studios that we can tap into in a new way, particularly from the world of 20th Century Studios. The Ice Age series has so far seen 5 feature films to the tune of over $3,200,000,000 at the global box office. We are now in production on a spin off film exclusively for Disney plus called The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. It centers on 3 series favorites, the prankster, Possum Brothers, Crash and Eddie and the swashbuckling weasel of the title, Buck. I'm pleased to announce that the wonderful Simon Pegg will be returning in the role of Buck.
Moving to another popular film series that has earned a combined $1,300,000,000 at the global box office across 3 films, we are ready to spend another night at the museum. In a fun twist, it is animated this time around, which gives us even more leeway to stretch the imagination with this fantastical premise. We are thrilled to have Shawn Levy, who has helped shape this blockbuster franchise as director of the previous films, on board as a producer. Now, I'm excited to shift gears into some of the event titles we have in the works. These are films born out of some of the most iconic Tramp.
These are worlds and characters we love, reimagined and brought to life by visionary filmmakers and top talent. And we create these stories at a size, scale and quality that is second to none, regardless of the size of the screen. We have an extraordinary slate of upcoming tentpole films, and I will give you a quick glimpse today of just a few. In July 2021, we invite audiences to embark on Jungle Cruise with an adventure of mythic proportions in the grand tradition of Pirates of the Caribbean. It stars 2 of today's biggest movie stars, Dwayne Johnson when it comes to having it all, drama, comedy, action, emotion, music, For audiences worldwide, there is perhaps nothing like The Lion King.
Following the 1 $600,000,000 success of our 2019 reimagining, we are in development on an inspired prequel of sorts that revisits these iconic characters. And I am beyond thrilled that we have Fairy Jenkins of the Oscar winning Moonlight in the director's chair. A couple years ago, Mary Poppins Returns had audiences tapping their, what do you call them? Oh, feet. And director Rob Marshall is back in the Disney fold to bring his unique gifts to a live action take on The Little Mermaid.
In the title role, we have multi talented singer and actor Halle Bailey, alongside a phenomenal cast that includes Awkwafina, David Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Melissa McCarthy, and Javier Bardem. And we will have not only the beloved Menken Ashman songs from the animated original, but some all new music from Alan Menken and Lin Manuel Miranda. For Disney plus we're currently in development on a hybrid live action animated feature with 2 perennial favorites in Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers. Pop stars Akiva Schaeffer directs and the hilarious John Mulaney and Andy Samberg are set to star in the title roles. Seth Rogen will cameo, and you'll be sure to recognize his voice in this early animation test we are sharing with you today.
In our film, cartoons are living among us in all their animated forms. And let's just say, Dale may have gone a little overboard to keep up with the current Rescue Rangers is slated for spring 2022. It is no lie to say this next tale is one of the all time classics. Pinocchio brought us not only the plucky puppet and his cautious cricket, but also some of the most iconic Disney music of all time. From I've Got No Strings to the quintessential When You Wish Upon A Star.
And now, especially for Disney plus we are working with the famed director, Robert Zemeckis, who is pulling the strings on a compelling new live action retelling with the one and only Tom Hanks set to star. We will be leveraging state of the art CGI to bring Pinocchio to life. Like Pinocchio, the story of Peter Pan in Neverland has always had a special appeal to audiences. David Lowery, who did such a spectacular job on Peace Dragon, is exploring a new angle in Peter Pan and Wendy, just for Disney plus And we are putting together an amazing cast, including Yara Shahidi in the role of Tinker Bell and Jude Law as Captain Hook. And finally, an update on a project that's been eagerly awaited for some time.
We have been working on a sequel to the hit film Enchanted, which starred Amy Adams as Giselle, who finds her life flipped upside down when she falls out of her animated fantasy world and finds herself stuck in real life Manhattan. We could not be any more thrilled to share that Amy will be back as Giselle in this sequel, Disenchanted, which will stream exclusively on Disney plus One more exciting tidbit of news, we are in development on a 3rd film in the beloved Sister Act series with none other than Whoopi Goldberg herself on board to star and produce. Tyler Perry is also signed on as a producer on the project, and we will have more details on these titles in the coming months. As you can see, we have a huge range of exciting projects in the works across live action and animation and somewhere in between. Now I haven't shown a lot of footage to date because many of these projects are still in development or pre production.
So I want to close out with something really special for you from a film that's a little further along and that we could not be more excited about. Cruella dives into the rebellious early days of 1 of the most notorious and notoriously fashionable villains, the legendary Cruella De Vil. Oscar winner, Emma Stone stars as Estella, AKA Cruella, opposite Oscar winner Emma Thompson as The Baroness, the head of a prestigious fashion house who plucks Estella from obscurity as a burgeoning designer. It's set against the backdrop of 1970s punk rock London and our director Craig Gillespie delivers a truly unique take on this one of a kind villain. Today, I have a never before seen sizzle that will give you a real flavor of this fantastic film.
Please enjoy.
Hi, it's Lowell. Let me offer a big thanks to Sean. And we're now going to give you another chance to stretch your legs. Since Hanukkah starts tonight, we wish those who are celebrating a Happy Hanukkah. And if you're interested, during this break, feel free to enjoy this great new Disney Channel Hanukkah video with music from Daveed Diggs with William Hudson and Jonathan Snipes.
We'll resume in about 5 minutes with presentations from Walt Disney Animation, Pixar and Marvel, and you won't want to miss any of those.
For me? Oh, well, you shouldn't have. I guess I'll just,
oh, that's a sweater. Did somebody knit this? It's really great.
Just pass. Menorah is now covered up with wax. I thought it would be obvious I didn't want to ask, but was a night feel the night I get my puppy at last? My feet are warm and my body is cozy. The hats and the mittens and umbrella are totally great.
Love it all. I'm the king of style. Just one thing I've been wanting all this while.
It is now my pleasure to
Welcome to the Kingdom of Kumandra, the setting of our next feature film, Raya and the Last Dragon. Taking inspiration from the incredible cultures and lands of Southeast Asia, the team at Walt Disney Animation Studios has created a fantasy world like no other. Rai is a film about a lone warrior who brings together an unlikely gang, sworn enemies, on a mission to unite the kingdom. There's Raya, a warrior whose wit is as sharp as her blade. The street savvy entrepreneur named Boone.
The formidable giant, Tong, and a little thieving toddler, Noi, with her band of Ongis. Their only hope is a magical mythical self deprecating dragon named Sisu. With time running out, can they rebuild their shattered world? Led by the indomitable Kelly Marie Tran as Raya, and the 1 and only Aqua Feena as a dragon like you've never seen before. Raya and the Last Dragon is a beautiful, bold and hilarious film.
And while it is our 59th animated feature, it is our very first to be produced at home. Over 400 different homes at that. And from our homes to yours. As Kareem mentioned earlier, Riot and the Last Dragon will be released both in theaters throughout the U. S.
And around the world, as well as on Disney Plus with Premier Access. This simultaneous release on Disney Plus and in theaters March 5 gives audiences every possible opportunity to see the film. In Disney plus we have a home for our legacy of films, upcoming films like Raya and the Last Dragon, and we see boundless creative opportunities to continue stories with our favorite characters as well as create original stories set in all new worlds, working with talent not just in our studio, but around the world. Today, we're happy to announce several new projects in development and production. This is where nostalgia meets the future.
We begin with Disney Animation's first ever animated series. It takes place in one of our favorite fantastical cities and stars one of our most beloved characters. To tell you more is the Oscar winning director of Big Hero 6 and creator of Baymax the series, Don Hall.
Hey, everybody. I'm Don Hall, Director of Big Hero 6. I am so excited to talk to you about Baymax, the series for Disney plus This series is a continuation of the move. We actually get to explore more of the city of San Francisco, this huge, wonderful, rich canvas. The series really focuses on Baymax's original protocol, which is to be a nurse robot.
Each episode, we meet a new character, a patient for Baymax is going to help. I would like to be more like Baymax, his kindness, his compassion, his single-minded devotion to just helping people. He's kind of a
hero for the times.
And lastly, I don't want to give away any spoilers, but Baymax will have a new feature that will allow him to quickly travel around the streets of San Francisco looking for patients. Thank you, everybody. We're very excited to show you more.
Baymax will be on Disney plus in early 2022. Also in production, welcome back to the mammal metropolis of Zootopia, where directors Trent Corrie and Josie Trinidad are creating a short form series called Zootopia Plus. Zootopia Plus takes a hilarious look at some of the animals we only briefly met in the Oscar winning film, including frou frou, gazelles, tiger dancers and our favorite sloth, Flash. We'll get insight into their lives through the lens of Zootopia's hottest shows like The Real Mousewives of Little Rodentia, So You Think You Can and a show that follows the fast lane of life at Foxpeak. Zootopia Plus is set for Disney Plus in spring 2022.
Cinderella, Ariel, Elsa, Jasmine, Rapunzel. Disney Animation has brought some of the greatest heroines to the screen. Characters that people connect with and who stand the test of time. And with Disney plus we're creating new stories for these characters, starting with a favorite, from New Orleans, Princess Tiana. We are bringing Tiana and her friends back for all new stories in a long form musical comedy series.
The possibilities are endless with Tiana stepping into a role as a princess of a land we have yet to visit and with so much more of New Orleans yet to see. Tiana comes to Disney plus in 2023. There is another series we're excited to announce, one that focuses on a heroine who asks herself how far she'll go. Yes, we are developing a long form musical comedy series, since since the film's initial release. In the series, Moana's boundless sense of adventure and skills at Wayfinding take her far beyond the reef.
Since our first research trips to the region for this film, we continue to be inspired by the deep oral storytelling traditions of the Pacific Islands. And to help tell the stories for this new series, we are connecting with talent from the region. Moana the series will be on Disney plus in 2023. There is one more series I am thrilled to announce today, an all new, all original series created in a whole new way for our studio. Back in the beginning of 2019, I saw a news piece about a group of storytellers and artists from Nigeria and Uganda.
The title of this video was Pan African Comic Book Hopes TO Kick Disney's You Know What, I Was Intrigued. Here were 3 talented comic book artists, Tolu Olofoyecki, Zeki Nelson and Hamid Ibrahim founded an entertainment company called Kugali. Their dream was to bring African stories created by African artists to the world through comics and animation, highlighting the diversity of cultures, history and voices across the continent. Their talents as storytellers blew us away. I'm proud to announce a first of its kind collaboration as Kugali and Disney Animation team up to bring their original long form series to Disney plus The series is called Iwadju, which in the Yoruba language roughly translates to the future.
Set in Lagos, Nigeria and steeped in science fiction, Uwaju explores deep themes of class, innocence and challenging the status quo. Uwaju will debut on Disney plus in 2022. As you can see, we're embracing the opportunities Disney plus provides. We cannot wait to share more in the coming months. But today, I want to leave you with a very special project, our animated feature film set to release fall of 2021.
We've not officially announced this movie until today. For our 60th feature, magical realism sets the stage, and yes, it is a musical stage as we travel to Colombia, where a magical family, the Madrigals, live in an equally magical home. Our film is called Encanto. Why? Because an Encanto is a charmed place born of its unique wonders where life itself is wonders.
Directors Byron Howard and Jared Busch, the filmmaking team that brought you the Academy Award winning Zootopia are joined by co director and co writer, Charisse Castro Smith, and bringing his talents as both songwriter and story collaborator is the incomparable Lin Manuel Miranda. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years since we first heard his incredible music in Moana, and we are so excited to re team with him for Encanto. That's Encanto, a musical comedy with songs in Spanish and English that's not afraid to dig deep into the dangerously wonderful chaos of family. From Kumandra to Colombia, San Fransochio to Zootopia, from New Orleans to the Pacific Islands, to a sci fi world in Africa, the story possibilities for the near century old Disney Animation are more limitless than ever. It is now my pleasure to introduce my esteemed colleague at our fellow animation studio, a person both tall in stature and in talent from Pixar Animation Studios, Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter.
Hey, everybody. I'm Pete Docter. Pixar started in 1986 with the dream to take the wonderful tradition of and innovation, 2 opposing concepts have been at the heart of Pixar since the very beginning. Since then, we've gone on to make 23 feature films and many, many shorts. And as a director of several of these films, it makes me so happy to hear that folks who grew up on these films as kids are now passing them along to kids of their own.
It's hard to believe Pixar has been around 34 years, but you know what? Truth is, we're just getting started. Today, I'm excited to introduce you to a bunch of fresh new filmmakers. Getting their voices on the screen is our key focus right now, while at the same time allowing our veteran filmmakers to continue to mature and do their great work. And I think that's really what we do best at Pixar.
We honor tradition, while at the same time innovating for the future. Here's something that sure took a lot of innovation. It's our 23rd feature film called Soul, and it's one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I've ever directed, that's for sure. Soul is set in 2 distinct places, one that's familiar and one you've never seen before. The film looks into what makes us who we are and what we do with our limited time here on Earth, appreciating the simple joys of life, finding the spark that makes you, you.
The themes of Soul feel so timely to us right now that we're happy that this movie will be shared this year with audiences around the world. We're excited to bring a little joy to everybody this holiday season.
Hang on. Hang on. What are y'all laughing at? So Connie got a little lost in it. That's a good thing.
Look, I remember one time my dad took me to this jazz club, and that's the last place I wanted to be. But then I see this guy, And he's playing his chords with force on it. And then with a minor, I went,
oh, oh, oh, oh. Then
he has the inner voices. And it's like he's it's like a singer. That's where the next thing I know, it's like he floats off the stage. That guy was lost in the music. He was in it.
And he took the rest of his will. That's when I knew I was born to play.
Look
We only have a short time on this planet. Don't look out and enjoy the bite. Remember to enjoy every
minute. Joey! We have gotten into you bowling
group of new storytellers at Pixar. They've really struck a chord with many around the world. Our next SparkShort, Burrow, follows a young rabbit as she tries to build the home of her dreams. It's by first time director, Maddy Sharafian, and I'm excited to say it's going to be released on Disney plus along with Soul this Christmas. We've also launched a new documentary series called Inside Pixar, which invites you into our studio for an up close never before seen look at the artistry, the craftsmanship and the storytellers of Pixar.
The first 5 episodes are available right now on Disney Plus, so check them out and more are scheduled to be released in the coming months. Next, grab a quick snack with Pixar Popcorn. This collection of mini shorts feature your favorite Pixar characters in all new bite sized stories created by Pixar animators. These were a blast to make. Pixar Popcorn comes to Disney plus this coming January.
We also have 3 all new series that you'll soon be seeing on Disney plus The first is near to my heart as it's a spin off from UP called Doug Days. It's written and directed by the hilarious Bob Peterson, the creator of Forky Ask a Question and the voice of Doug. This brand new series follows our favorite talking dog now with Carl as he returns from the dangers of the South American jungles to the dangers of suburbia. Here he will face many challenges including puppies, fireworks and of course,
squirrel.
Doug Days will premiere on Disney Plus in the fall of 2021. Here's a clip from one of our favorite episodes.
Doug, could you watch him for a spell?
I'll be right inside if you need me.
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I will take care of these puppies.
You might want to fly a bit down.
I want the puppies to wake up so that I may take care of the puppies.
You got your wish. Puppy. Puppy. Okay. Here they
come. Have fun, girl. I am faster than you. I am faster than a puppy. And, oh, puppy, this is me, Doug.
Next, we're excited to reignite the Cars franchise with an all new series that follows Lightning McQueen and his best friend Mater as they head on a road trip across the country. These episodes will be filled with lots of fun new characters, imaginative destinations, as well as old friends checking in along the way. Our all new Cars series is coming to Disney plus in the fall of 2022. Following that, we're very excited to announce Pixar's first ever original long form animated series. This is a big deal for us.
It's being written and directed by 2 young story artists, Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates. While working together on Toy Story 4, these two often noticed that they'd have very different impressions of the very same meeting. One would think it went great, the other thought it was a disaster. And they thought, hey, that would be a cool thing to explore, and it developed into an original series we're calling Win or Lose. This series follows a coed middle school softball team in the week leading up to their championship game.
Each 20 minute episode follows the same week, but from the perspective of a different character. Win or lose is coming exclusively to Disney plus in the fall of 2023. So those are all projects we're working on for Disney plus all being made by our filmmakers in Emeryville with the same passion and excitement and quality as our feature films. And speaking of our feature films, we have an exciting lineup to share with you that really captures that perfect blend of tradition and innovation that I talked about earlier. At the center of each of our big tentpole films is a deeply personal story and our next feature is no exception.
Luca is the first feature for director Enrico Casarosa who made the short film La Luna and it's a love letter to Enrico's home country of Italy and a celebration of the universal themes of friendship. Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, this original film is a heartfelt story about a young boy named Luca and his best friend Alberto, who experience an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca dives into theaters around the world in June 2021. Here's a sneak peek at our all new trailer. After Luca, I'm excited to announce 2 new films today, both releasing in 2022.
In the spring of 2022, we have an original film directed by another first time feature director, Domee Shi, who won an Academy Award for her Pixar short film, Bao. Get ready for Turning Red. This is May, confident 13 year old who's experiencing the excruciatingly awkwardness of being a teenager. Everything in her life is changing, her interests, her relationships, her body and balancing all this with family and crushes and her devotion to the biggest boy band on the planet is no small feat. Oh, and one more little detail, whenever she gets too excited, which for a 13 year old is like always, she uncontrollably poofs into a giant red panda, kind of like the Incredible Hulk, but cuter.
Turning Red is an original take on the great tradition of coming of age comedies, albeit one with an emotional and a furry twist. And coming in the summer of 2022 is a science fiction adventure film unlike anything we've done before. At first glance, you might think this is a Toy Story film. Well, not so fast. See back when we created the very first Toy Story, we designed Buzz Lightyear with the idea that he was a toy based on some really cool character from an epic blockbuster film.
Well, all these years later, we decided it's time to make that film. Directed by Pixar vet Angus MacLean, co director of Finding Dory, Lightyear is the definitive origin story of the original Buzz Lightyear, and it reveals how this young test pilot became the space ranger we all know him to be today. And we're excited to announce this new Buzz Lightyear will be voiced by none other than Chris Evans. You don't get much more traditional Pixar than Buzz, and we're excited to have Chris' help in bringing a new twist to this iconic character. We can't wait to take audiences to infinity and beyond as Lightyear launches into theaters in the summer of 2022.
So there you have it. Pixar continues to transform even as we become a proud part of the wonderful tradition of animation. We look forward to introducing you to even more characters, old and new, in years to come. Just please don't tell Kevin Feige that we're hiring Chris Evans away from Marvel Studios, okay?
Oh, no, here he comes.
Thank you, Pete. Good afternoon, everyone. We at Marvel Studios are thrilled to have a home on Disney plus where nearly the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe is laid out in a way that's easy for fans around the world to enjoy. And today, I'm excited to talk about the expansion and future of the MCU. As you may know, the cinematic universe weaves storylines and heroes and villains across 23 feature films to date.
And with Disney plus we're able to extend this way of storytelling to a new format, creating series that are connected to our theatrical releases, making the MCU more immersive than ever. There's a lot of new content coming from Marvel Studios, so let's get started. WandaVision will be the very first Marvel Studios series on Disney plus Wanda and Vision are 2 of our most powerful and complex heroes, and this series is a perfect expansion point for MCU storytelling. Launching on Disney Plus on January 15th, here's a look at the brand new trailer for WandaVision.
So what's a single girl like you doing rattling around this big house?
Well, I assure you, I'm married
to a man. A human one. What,
Oh, I don't think
that was ever in question.
I just don't know what to exact.
I'll never
Wanda, what's up?
Who are you?
I don't know.
I guess something's wrong
Well, I think we handled that well.
Elizabeth Olsen is currently in London right now. She's shooting the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with director Sam Raimi, star Benedict Cumberbatch and the rest of the cast, including Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor. And joining them is a new fan favorite character from the comics, America Chavez, played by Xochitl Gomez. This film hits theaters March 25, 2022, and we're really pushing the boundaries of storytelling with this thrilling, scary, mind bending adventure. Not only will Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness connect directly to the events of WandaVision, but it will also connect to the events of our new Spider Man film coming to theaters December 2021.
Moving to our next series for Disney plus which launches this coming March, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier features 2 recognizable superheroes last seen together in the final moments of Avengers Endgame. Sam Wilson, AKA the Falcon is played by Anthony Mackie and Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier is played by Sebastian Stan. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a cinematic experience. It's a Marvel Studios movie played out over 6 episodes. And now here for the first time is an exclusive look at The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The legacy of that shield is
complicated. The world
It's upside down. People need some to get behind.
And you have a symbol.
What's going on in that cyborg brain of yours? You don't want to know. Oh, yeah. I can see it working. Gears turning.
Oh, They're malfunctioning. They're on fire.
God, I hear you.
Now to another hero we last saw in Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow will return to the big screen on May 7, 2021. Of course, the film stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff. Fans have been patient and I can't tell you just how ready we are for this Avenger to finally have her own standalone film. And speaking of fan favorite characters, Loki, the god of mischief will step out of his brother's shadow and into his own series on Disney plus in May of next year. The great Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki and is joined in the series by Owen Wilson, Gugoomba The Raw, Sofia Di Martino, Mumi Mosaku and Richard E.
Grant. As with our other shows coming to Disney plus we want to try something a little different, explore a new genre for us at Marvel Studios. So we've put Loki in the center of his own crime thriller. If that sounds a little unusual, confusing, don't worry, Loki is just as confused. Here's the very first look at Loki.
You're taking me somewhere to kill me. No, I'm taking you someplace to talk. Well, I don't like to talk. But you do like to lie, which you just did.
Because we both know
you love to talk.
Tops and dumps.
How long have you been here? It's hard to say.
You know, time passes differently here in the TBA.
What does
that mean?
You'll catch up.
Shifting to Marvel Studios' first animated series coming to Disney Plus next summer, What If? Flips the script on the MCU, taking famous events from the films and reimagining them in unexpected ways. We've assembled a stellar voice cast with many MCU stars reprising their roles. Here's a look at What If.
Space,
time, reality. It's more than a linear path. It's a prism of endless possibility.
Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all.
Was promised an army.
You have a super soldier.
You should all seem too freaked out about all this, kid. What you doing out there all by yourself anyway?
Exploring the world.
Sounds fun. But why stop at one world
when we can show you all of them?
I am the watcher. I am
your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and dare to face the unknown. And ponder the question. What is?
Give me the
We've just wrapped production in Australia on our film Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. And we're so impressed the way Simu Liu has brought the character of Shang Chi to life. Simu is surrounded on screen by a fantastic cast that includes Awkwafina, Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh. This film is among the very first in our Phase 4 and is set to release in theaters on July 9, 2021. Launching on Disney plus later next year is Ms.
Marvel. Ms. Marvel is a Pakistani American team superhero. Earlier this year, during shutdown, we held online auditions all around the world to find our Kamala Khan and we found her in Eman Vellani. Eman will be surrounded by a phenomenal cast and creative team that will bring this story to life.
So here's an early look at Ms. Marvel.
Ms. Marvel is a new kind of superhero. But at the core of all of it, her story is so universal. Ms. Marvel is
one of the newer characters in the Marvel comics. And when one comes in that grabs the world's imagination like this, the questions are, when are we going to bring Ms. Marvel to the screens?
When Ms. Marvel first came out, we had such an incredible reaction.
It was so incredibly popular because everybody could see themselves
casting process
was vast cool. The casting process was vast. When we discovered Iman, we knew that she was Kamala Khan.
It was unanimous decision.
Yes, I can't comprehend this right now.
And then, of course, we've got a really incredible team of directors, Bilal Adelal Arbi, Mira Menon and Charmaine O'Beijanoi. And all of them are taking the material and elevating it.
So human, it's about a teenager figuring out who she is and about relationships. Family and friendship is at the heart of the MCU canon. That's what's so exciting about the story that we're bringing is that we're going to introduce you to a new family that's also going to be part of the wider MCU.
Starring in Captain Marvel 2, along with a grown up Monica Rambeau, played by Tiana Paris, whom we will have already met in the there aren't some unexplored corners of the universe. With next year's Eternals, we're introducing a brand new ensemble of superheroes to the MCU played by a spectacular cast. This is an epic story spanning 1,000 of years, and it's one of our most ambitious films yet. It's set for theatrical release on November 5, 2021. Original Avenger Jeremy Renner returns to star in Hawkeye, launching on Disney Plus late next year.
In our series, Hawkeye teams up with another well known archer from Marvel Comics, Kate Bishop. And I'm very pleased to confirm that Kate will be played by the amazing Hailee Steinfeld. Rounding out that cast are Vera Farmiga, Fra Fi and newcomer Alaqua Cox playing Maya Lopez. The episodes are being directed by Rhys Thomas and the directing duo of Bert and Bertie. Debuting for the first time in the MCU, She Hulk is coming to Disney plus It's a series about a woman trying to navigate the world and be taken seriously as a working professional, despite the fact that she's well over 6 foot 7 and green.
It's a very funny series being directed by Kat Coiro and Anew Valia. And I can officially confirm that She HulkJennifer Walters will be played by the talented and Emmy Award winning Tatiana Maslany. I'm also pleased to reveal that the brilliant Tim Roth is returning is the abomination, the character we first introduced to the MCU in 2000 and eight's The Incredible Hulk. And if that's not enough, I can confirm that the Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo, will be appearing in the series as well. And since Jennifer Walters is a lawyer who specializes specifically in superhero oriented legal cases, you never know what Marvel characters are going to pop up from episode to episode.
Bringing a whole new different vibe to the MCU, Moon Knight is an action adventure Indiana Jones type story coming to life as a Disney plus series directed by Mohammed Diab. The character Moon Knight is a complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. And these multiple identities that live inside him are very distinct characters in the series. The backdrop of our story is incredible Knight. Now I want to talk about a couple of projects that we haven't announced yet.
The first of which is Secret Invasion coming to Disney plus Samuel L. Jackson is back as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn from Captain Marvel returns as the Skrull, Talos. Next to Civil War, Secret Invasion is arguably the biggest crossover comic event in the last 20 years, and we're bringing it to Disney Plus. It's about a sect of Skrulls who have infiltrated every level of life on Earth. Ironheart will be a series for Disney plus about genius inventor Riri Williams, who has the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man's.
Dominique Thorne will play the title role. And as we like to do, both Secret Invasion and Ironheart will tie directly to MCU feature films. We're also well underway on a happens when his tech falls into the wrong hands. And this series will star beloved member of the MCU, Don Cheadle, will be returning as Jim Rhodes, AKA War Machine. One of the best things about expanding the MCU to Disney plus is that our team at Marvel Studios is finally able to do some of the things we've always wanted to do, but didn't quite have the right outlet for.
Like produce, our first ever live action holiday special. In a reverent Guardians fashion, the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special is going to be a lot of fun, especially since James Gunn is back to write and direct. In fact, we're going to shoot it during production of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. This special will drop the holiday prior to the next Guardians of the Galaxy film, which hits theaters in 2023. And speaking of Guardians, aptly titled I am Groot, Everyone's Favorite Little Tree, Baby Groot, will star in a series of shorts on Disney plus featuring several new and unusual characters.
Before I go, I couldn't leave you without giving a few more updates on some of our most anticipated upcoming films. In January, we'll begin filming Thor: Love and Thunder with Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson returning. And I'm pleased to confirm that Academy Award winning actor Christian Bale is playing the villain Gorr the God Butcher. Thor: Love and Thunder releases in theaters on May 6, 2020 2. As we announced at Comic Con last year, we're moving ahead with Blade, starring Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali.
The development and storylines are coming together and we'll have announcements very, very soon. Director Peyton Reed is hard at work with our Marvel Studios team on the 3rd Ant Man film, which will officially be called Ant Man and the Quantumania. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer are all returning. And Katherine Newton is joining the cast and playing Cassie Lang. And in the role of Kang the Conqueror, we have a great Jonathan Majors.
I wanted to acknowledge the devastating loss of a dear friend and member of the Marvel Studios family. Chadwick Boseman was an immensely talented actor and an inspirational individual who affected all of our lives professionally and personally. His portrayal of T'Challa, the Black Panther is iconic and transcends any iteration of the character in any other medium from Marvel's past. And it's for that reason that we will not re cast the character. However, to honor the legacy that Chad helped us build through his portrayal of the King of Wakanda, we want to continue to explore the world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.
Writer director Ryan Coogler is hard at work on the sequel now and will bring the film to you in theaters July 8, 2022. And finally, I'm happy to announce a film about 1 of the truly iconic Marvel families. In fact, Marvel's first family, Fantastic Four. We're working on a feature now and it will be directed by the director of our recent Spider Man films, Jon Watts. We've got a lot in store at Marvel Studios and Disney Plus is key to the interconnection and expansion of the MCU.
It will be home for both our feature films and our series for years years to come. Since Marvel first joined Disney back in 2009, Bob Iger's been the biggest champion of the work that we do. None of this would have been possible without his support. So it is now my pleasure to turn things back over to Bob. Thank you.
What an amazing presentation by Kevin and all of our creative executives, truly astounding. As you just saw for yourselves, the same attributes that define our theatrical releases, the grand scale and scope, stunning artistry and groundbreaking special effects are also apparent in many of the series we are producing. Of course, as remarkable as that presentation was, we obviously didn't have time to show you everything coming to Disney plus particularly a lot more original Disney branded content. We launched the service last year with great ambition and high expectations and we've exceeded them by every measure. There are enormous success of Disney plus inspired us to be even more ambitious and the pipeline of original content we're making is much more robust than we had initially anticipated with an incredibly impressive number of great new episodic series, feature films, documentaries and specials all coming to the service in the next few years.
They'll also be arriving at a much quicker cadence. We set a target of 100 plus new titles per year and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. And of course, we'll continue to add more to our rich library as well. It's been an unbelievable 1st year and the response from audiences around the world has been extraordinary. We've clearly positioned ourselves as a leader in the direct to consumer space.
And the fact is, we're only just getting started. This video truly captures why we're so excited about the future of Disney plus Enjoy.
I assume you now understand why we are so excited about our direct to consumer opportunity. And you now probably want to know how our business plans and content lineup translate into our subscriber and financial expectations. Well, I just happen to know the person who can address those topics. So I would now like to introduce Disney's Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy.
Thanks, Lowell. And thanks to all of you for joining us. We are so proud of what we've been able to share with you today, and I hope it has reinforced why we continue to see such tremendous opportunity in the direct to consumer space. As you have heard throughout the day, our more aggressive direct to consumer business plans supported by our new organizational structure will allow us to further increase the value that our services deliver to consumers. We'll also continue to be responsive to our investors as we are aligned in our goal of maximizing long term shareholder value.
We will continue to be transparent with all of you about our direct to consumer businesses. And we will continue providing the key metrics that help you best understand our progress. We will also provide incremental disclosures when appropriate. We plan to begin reporting results under our new structure in Q1 of fiscal 2021. Going forward, our operations will be organized under our 2 primary businesses, Disney Media and Entertainment and Disney Parks Experiences and Products.
While we are still working through the details of our new financial reporting approach, our goal is to provide recast financials in advance of but close to our Q1 earnings call in February of 2021. As we look ahead to reporting this new structure, one item I would like to highlight is that we will change how we attribute film and television costs to the various distribution platforms. Rather than having an intersegment markup, we will allocate the cost plus a share of overhead. Now, I'll share with you how we expect our plans to drive growth and impact our direct to consumer financial results. Today, I'm going to provide guidance across our services for fiscal 2024 to be consistent with the timeframe we guided to at our last Investor Day.
Let me start with Disney plus which, as you heard earlier today, had 86,800,000 total paid subscribers as of December 2, approximately 30% of which were Disney plus Hotstar subscribers. When we discuss Disney plus subscriber guidance, here is some further context on what we mean. In most international markets, Star will be part of Disney plus with a combined price point to consumers. This includes Disney plus Hotstar markets as well as markets where Star will be a 6th tile within the Disney plus app. So in these markets, our Disney Plus subscriber outlook reflects the inclusion of Star.
Latin America requires a little more explanation. As Rebecca discussed earlier, consumers will have 3 options: Disney Plus on its own, Star Plus on its own or a bundle of the 2 services. We intend to price the bundle in an attractive manner. And as a result, we anticipate relatively few Star Plus standalone subscribers. So for simplicity, we will include these in our Disney Plus subscriber count and bundled subscribers will only be counted once.
If you recall, last year, we said that we expected Disney plus to have between 60,000,000 subscriber growth to date is well ahead of our original expectations. And we have an incredible and growing slate of high quality content that will capture a broader global audience and further fuel Disney plus making it what we believe is an even more compelling product. These factors, along with the addition of our Star general entertainment offering in various markets and the growth of Disney Plus Hotstar give us an even greater optimism about our future, and they enable us to significantly increase our subscriber guidance. We now expect that by the end of fiscal 2024, we will have between 230,000,000 and 260,000,000 total paid Disney plus subscribers globally compared to the 60,000,000 to 90,000,000 we shared last year. I'll note that our prior outlook did not anticipate the launch of Disney plus Hot Star, which we now expect could be between 30% 40% of our subscriber base by the end of fiscal 2024.
We clearly have an incredible opportunity to build a substantial global subscriber base, but we also believe we have the opportunity to increase Disney plus pricing given the additional value we will be adding to the service. So in March of 2021, we will be increasing the U. S. Price of Disney plus by $1 to $7.99 per month. And as Rebecca mentioned earlier, we will be increasing the price of Disney plus in Continental Europe by €2 to €8.99 per month with similar adjustments in other markets.
These price increases reflect an increase in the underlying value of the Disney plus product offering as well as the inclusion of star general entertainment content in many markets. As you've seen and heard today, this incredible trajectory of our subscriber growth will be fueled by our continued and increased investment in high quality content. This includes incremental investment in the international general entertainment offerings we create and the local content we create or acquire. At our last Investor Day, we said we expected fiscal 2020 Disney plus content amortization expense of approximately $2,000,000,000 and we expected that to grow to the mid-four $1,000,000,000 range for fiscal 2024. In fiscal 2020, our content expense was roughly in line with that outlook.
Looking forward, our revised outlook for subscriber growth is fueled in part by an increased level of output for Disney plus including the addition of Star. This will drive higher fiscal 2024 content expense on our P and L than we previously expected. We now expect our content expense to be between $8,000,000,000 $9,000,000,000 in that year. This increase reflects several factors, including increasing investment in original content under the 5 core brands with which we launched Disney plus particularly Marvel and Star Wars, making a significant incremental investment in our production of original general entertainment content that will drive our Star and Star Plus offerings, producing and acquiring local content in international markets, which will increase our relevance and subscriber penetration in those markets and the inclusion of Disney Plus Hotstar in our revised outlook, which includes both entertainment content and sports rights costs. We previously stated that we expected Disney plus would reach its peak year of losses between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2022.
Consistent with this range, our expectation today is that Disney plus will reach its peak year of losses in fiscal 2021. Given the value of growing our subscriber base, as you've seen today, we plan to reinvest revenue generated from our better than expected subscriber growth back into content investment. Thus, we continue to expect Disney plus to achieve profitability in fiscal 2024. Again, I'll note that this guidance includes Disney plus Star, Star Plus and Disney plus Hotstar. As viewing habits and trends evolve further over the coming years, we will calibrate and adapt our content creation, distribution and pricing, all while maintaining a strong value proposition for our consumers.
The guidance we are providing reflects our plans as of today, but we operate in a dynamic world and we are certain consumer expectations and preferences will continue to evolve. We will remain flexible in our approach with a keen focus on serving consumers and maximizing shareholder value. Switching gears, Hulu has a 12 year track record of growth, which has accelerated in recent years and the service continues to perform well. With more than a decade of data to learn from and to inform our outlook. We told you last year that by the end of fiscal 2024, we expected Hulu's domestic paid subscriber base to grow to between $40,000,000 $60,000,000 Looking forward, we are refining our outlook and we now expect Hulu will have between 50,060,000,000 subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024.
This includes subscribers to the live TV product, which includes Hulu's SVOD content. We now expect Hulu to achieve profitability in fiscal 2023 compared to the range we provided last year of fiscal 2023 or fiscal 2024. Turning to ESPN plus We are very pleased with the performance of the service. When we last met, we said that we expected ESPN Plus to have between 8,000,000 and 12,000,000 subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024. We have evolved our business model since then.
And today, we are going after mass market penetration to reach an even broader audience of sports fans. As a result, we've seen the successful uptake of our domestic streaming bundle. This, alongside ESPN Plus's exclusive live events, original programming and editorial content that you heard about earlier today has led us to change our outlook. We now expect ESPN plus will have between 20,000,000 30,000,000 subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024. While this strategy leads to a substantially larger ESPN plus subscriber opportunity than we expected at the time of our last Investor Day, it also drives a lower ARPU than we previously expected.
Thus, we continue to believe ESPN plus will reach profitability in fiscal 2023 in line with what we said last year. We clearly have incredible entertainment properties and content engines that will drive the growth we talked about today. To put our total direct to consumer content investment outlook into perspective, we expect that for fiscal 2024, our global direct to consumer content expense on our P and L will be between $14,000,000,000 $16,000,000,000 across Disney plus Hulu and ESPN plus This excludes Hulu Live's programming costs for networks on its digital MVPD service. This level of content investment demonstrates our commitment to pivoting and accelerating our strategy. Putting this all together, when you add up our subscriber outlook across the 3 services, we expect to reach between $300,000,000 $350,000,000 global subscriptions across our services by the end fiscal 2024 compared to the $137,000,000 we had as of December 2.
It is clear that our strategy has already firmly positioned us as a leading global streaming service provider, And that is within just 1 year of launching Disney plus Looking forward, we have the utmost confidence in the trajectory of our direct to consumer businesses and in our ability to continue to create significant shareholder value. With that, I will hand things back over to Bob Chapek.
Thanks, Christine.
After what you've seen today, you can surely understand why we are so excited and so optimistic about the future of the Walt Disney Company. The vast collection of content we showed you from our team of world class creatives truly is unparalleled, And we are delivering it to audiences across our unique portfolio of streaming services in a way only Disney can. In just this 1st year, Disney plus has vastly exceeded all of our expectations. And now, with the strategic vision that we just illustrated for you that puts the consumer in charge, we're incredibly confident that we will achieve the long term guidance that Christine outlined, giving fans the wide array of great high quality entertainment they want, delivered when and how they want it. We believe the combined strength of all of our efforts will fundamentally transform The Walt Disney Company, create long term value for our shareholders and position us to achieve even greater success as we enter our 2nd century.
And with that, I'll turn it back over to Lowell for our investor Q and A session.
Thanks, Bob. We're now going to transition to an analyst Q and A session. But in order to do that, we need to give our analysts an opportunity to dial in to ask their questions. So while they're doing that, please enjoy the Academy Award winning Pixar short, Piper. Welcome back, everyone.
As you can see, I am joined by Bob Chapek and Christine McCarthy, and we are going to spend the next few minutes answering some of your questions. We'd like to welcome a group of analysts who are joining us by Zoom. Good to see you all. And I would like to ask each analyst that in order to help us to get to as many of your questions as possible, please limit yourself to 1 question per person. Additionally, we'd encourage you to ask questions germane to today's presentation.
Now for those of you asking a question, please remember to unmute your mic when you are called upon. And unless you are asking a question, please make sure your line remains muted. And with that, we are ready to take our first question and it comes from the line of Ben Swinburne from Morgan Stanley. Ben, it's good to see you. Please unmute yourself and go ahead with your question.
Sure. Can you hear me?
We can,
Ben. Great. I'll follow the rules and stick with 1. Bob, you talked a lot about flexibility in distribution decisions, which is clearly an advantage you have with all these different options. But you also have these significant tentpole franchise films, which carry tremendous value in kind of marketing and franchise heft.
So when we look at, for example, Pinocchio going to Disney plus Direct, Raya, Premier Access, I think Little Mermaid is theatrical. What is the decision making process that goes into those choices? And I guess just to play devil's advocate, why not go day in day with your biggest films as you talk about meeting the consumer where they are and the consumers in charge? I'm wondering if you could talk about that a little bit.
Sure. Well, first of all, flexibility is going to be a big dynamic going forward for us because there's obviously 2 things happening. Number 1 is COVID and how that's impacting the marketplace, both from a consumer behavior standpoint, but also in terms of a theater exhibition standpoint. I mean, we've got that dynamic going as well and then changing consumer behaviors overall. So to me, it's really about of the 100 titles that we announced today, 80% of them are going first to Disney plus which I think says something about our pivot over to Disney plus But at the same time, we had $13,000,000,000 of box office last year.
And that's obviously not something to sneeze at. And we know as the Walt Disney Company, who got this plethora of franchises that we just showed you today, that we build those franchises through the theatrical exhibition window and we did $13,000,000,000 back in 2019. So for us, it's about balance and it's about following the consumer as they make that transition. And so part of why we did the reorganization that we did is to ensure that we've got an organization flexible to read all the cues, whether it's the cessation of COVID or it's changing consumer behavior, so that we can very nimbly make decisions as we go forward. And that 80% direct to consumer is not just Disney plus obviously, but that includes Hulu and Star as well.
Ben, we thank you for the question. Our next question will come from Alexia Quadrani at JPMorgan. Alexia, welcome. Please unmute yourself and go ahead with your question.
Thank you. Can you just talk about your decision to put ESPN channels on Star Plus in Latin America? And really how that may impact your relationship with your distributors down there? How you look at the linear relationships down there? And if there are any sort of read throughs that we can sort of take away from that decision in terms about your relationship to the distributors here domestically and what that means for your linear channels?
As we go ahead and expand our DTC offerings across the world, what we're very keen to do is not do a one size fits all application. We know, for example, in Europe that it's very important to have general entertainment bundled directly with our Disney plus offerings because of what specifically the consumers are looking for there. In Latin America, per your question, we know that sports is kind of the equivalent there. And what we're trying to do is come up with a really nice combination of general entertainment, content as well as sports. And so it's really following the consumer as we move there.
And in terms of the relationships to the MVPD partners that we have, we're going to make the evolution that the consumer is looking for. But at the same time, we understand that our partnerships are important, particularly those that are spinning off large amounts of cash for us. Now that would always be a consideration, but particularly a consideration as our parks are obviously under duress from COVID. So it's really a balancing act. And it goes back to the first question, that's why we're all about flexibility right now.
Okay. Alexia, thanks so much.
Our next question comes from Doug Michellson with Credit Suisse. Doug, good to see you. Please unmute and go ahead and ask your question.
Nice to see you as well. Thank you. I guess my question is on the content spend. When I look at your new subscriber guide, even notwithstanding $75,000,000 or so of those coming from Hotstar, it looks like a pretty big revenue increase for Disney plus when you look out to fiscal 'twenty four, something like maybe $10,000,000,000 You raised your programming expense guide by 4,500,000,000. So you think profitably by fiscal 'twenty four.
I mean, I'm just curious to see other cost buckets. But overall, are you spending substantially more of that incremental $4,500,000,000 as a company? Or are there offsets elsewhere?
Christine, you want to
Yes. Thanks, Doug. We are we're definitely still in launch mode as it relates to Disney plus We're still going into new markets. Some of the expenses are things like marketing, just having going outside of the U. S.
Where the brand is very well known, some of the markets we'll be in, the brand is known, some others not as well known. So looking at just how we can best get our direct to consumer businesses more broadly distributed over this initial few years going into the launch is also part of that profitability guidance that we've given. But we feel really good about I think you saw today the content and the range of content. So we feel really good about what we have under development, what's on the list of to be developed over the next few years. So and once again, this is, as I said towards the end of my prepared remarks, this is where we are at this point in time.
So I would say this is a minimum amount of content that you will be seeing.
Doug, thank you. Okay. Our next question will come from Michael Nathanson with MoffettNathanson. Michael, good to see you.
I'm sure you're all muted
and go ahead.
Hey, how are you? A question for Bob, Christine. Given the importance to the forecast from India and Hotstar and then Latin America that's coming on June. Can you talk a bit about the ARPU strategies, the pricing strategies in those markets? And what role does advertising play to maybe drive growth in those markets longer term?
Well, I'll take that. Michael, it's great to see you. I haven't seen any of you in a long time. So this is quite a nice engagement today. ARPU, as we all know, is lower in India than in the other markets that we have launched, Disney plus Your question around advertising is a really good one.
Advertising is on Hulu. You can either get the product with or without advertising. But when you look at the Disney brand, the Disney plus product, we have a very high volume of films on our service. And we don't believe that the consumer experience would be a particularly good one if we had advertising on Disney plus That doesn't mean that we couldn't look at some other things related to advertising, but in terms of having advertising in the stream for Disney plus our intention is not to do that. But we look at pricing also, which is going to be impacting ARPUs throughout the world on a region or country by country basis.
So as we showed today, we are increasing the price in Continental Europe by €2. It's a different product because it includes Star General Entertainment. But in domestic U. S, we'll be increasing it by $1 starting in March. So there is a combination of things going, but we are going to be very focused on ARPU because it is part of the revenue equation.
Yes. And I would just add, Michael, the one place where you will see advertising is on sports. So Disney Plus, Hotstar and obviously Star Plus in LATAM, if there are live events, we obviously have commercial breaks and you'll see advertising there. Michael, thanks. Good to see you.
Our next question will come from the line of Jessica Reif Ehrlich with Bank of America. Jessica, good to see you. I don't believe you're unmuted.
I think I'm
can you hear me?
Yes, we can now, yes.
Okay.
Hi, everybody.
And you froze.
All right.
And in the ESPN If
you could start over, that would be great.
Yes. How are you what do you anticipate for longer term operating margins for each of the services? And in your ESPN guidance, does that encompass major sports shifting over? So Jessica, great to see you as well. Long term, we are in the beginning we are in the first innings of this direct to consumer business of ours.
We're most focused on launching the service, getting engagement, having consumers really enjoy all of the content that we have to offer. So we're not providing margin guidance on margins. But you can assume that we will have, additional content that is going to we'll decide when we're going to put that content on. But we will be focused on margins. But right now, we're really focused on the distribution side and having consumers engage with our services.
Right. And ESPN plus assumes some sports shift, as Jimmy had indicated, to ESPN plus but nothing of significance that would disrupt our linear networks right now. But I will say that every time we enter into a discussion with one of our providers, one of our partners on the Sports rights side, ESPN plus is always a part of that discussion. And recall that we've given guidance on profitability for Disney plus in 2024, ESPN Plus in 'twenty three and Hulu in 'twenty three, if that gives you any guidance towards the margins.
Yes. I mean even in our SEC deal today, there's some allocation of rights to ESPN plus So that will I think you'll continue to see that moving forward. Right. Jessica, thanks. Our next question will come from Jason Bazinet with Citi.
Jason, good to see you. Make sure you're unmuted and go ahead.
Great. Thanks so much. You guys didn't say anything about sort of the syndication revenues that you generate today. Should investors sort of view those as unchanged? Or are there some rights that today you might license out to competitor SVOD player that would come on your own platform that would cause the syndication or licensing revenues to diminish?
Thanks.
Christine, do you want to?
Sure. Hi, Jason. We are still licensing some content because we have some existing contracts that still have a period of time to run. Going forward, we our intention is to have as much of our content produced by all of the studios that you saw today go on to our services. However, there may be some that for just one reason or another, we choose not to put on the services.
So you will have licensing going forward, albeit at a much lower degree than we have in periods past.
Okay. Jason, thank you. We will now go to Mike Morris with Guggenheim. Mike, nice to see you. Go ahead.
Hi. Thank you, Lowell. Good to see you all as well. My question is a follow-up on ESPN. Clearly, you're pushing very hard and being very aggressive with your content investment and this decision to make your content available directly to consumers and meet them where they are.
But that is more of a challenge with ESPN. The push doesn't feel as aggressive even though you are clearly spending on ESPN Plus. I'm hoping you could talk a little bit about what a path may look like for those largest investments on ESPN Plus or on ESPN rather to at some point be made available direct to consumer. I realize it's a complicated process, but I'd love to hear maybe what some of the dominoes are that need to fall over time that we could get the full ESPN as a standalone?
Okay. Bob, you want to take that? Sure.
You're right that the it's a much more complicated equation in the DTC area in sports because of essentially the fact that we have to go get the rights externally for the content. But we've always said that we will follow the best interest of our shareholders when we make that transition. I think Jimmy ended his presentation with a statement that we're going to continue to watch consumer trends. And when we believe the time is right to make a transition, we will be prepared to make that transition. Right now though, we believe that we're best with the hybrid model that we've got.
While the tilt may not be quite as strong as you referenced as it is in our direct to consumer general entertainment business or Disney plus business, it's still tilting not quite as aggressively because we don't think the time is right as a measurement of what would be right for our shareholders at this moment.
Okay. Thank you, Mike. Thanks for that question. And our next question will come from Stephen Cahall with Wells Fargo Securities. Stephen, go ahead.
Ask your question.
Thank you
very much. Good to see you all. A big picture question, since you really set the stage out to 2024 and you've got Disney plus Hotstar, you've got the new Comcast bundle and you're nesting star inside of Disney plus in a lot of markets. So if we look out, say, 5 years, do you think that all of these individual services do converge into a single Disney plus with lots of tiles? It seems like there's a big subscriber acquisition advantage to bundling.
So over time, do you see yourself bundling globally? Thank you.
Okay. So short term, I mentioned that we see different consumer dynamics in each of those regions, which is driving us to do what we're doing. And in those markets, for those consumers that do want to try to combine things and make it easier, our bundle is our solution for now. But right now, we're looking with flexibility. Again, I hate to keep using that word, but it really is a common thing.
We're going to look with flexibility because we understand that those dynamics because this is an embryonic market, this direct to consumer market, we understand those dynamics may change. So something that we could research right now in Latin America or Europe or Asia might look a certain way today. But as taste evolve and consumer behaviors change, it may change. So we're not going to put a stake in the ground on any one strategy in any one market. All we can tell you is that we believe that the way we're launching these products today is the optimal way given the dynamics that we're reading.
Okay. Thanks, Steve. Good to see you. Our next question will come from Brett Feldman with Goldman Sachs. Brett, nice to see you.
Go ahead. Ask your question.
Thanks for taking the question. The higher long term subscriber targets that you've put out there, I'm curious to what extent does that reflect an expectation that you will do a better job penetrating the TAM you had previously estimated versus a view that there might actually be a larger TAM, particularly as you incorporate STAR? And as part of that answer, I'd be interested in hearing what you've seen and what you anticipate you're going to see in the future in terms of consumption outside the U. S. Primarily happening on mobile devices versus fixed devices?
Thank you.
Okay. I'll take that, Brent. We're looking at higher penetration of the TAM. We spoke about the size of that at our 1st Investor Day, and we gave the number as 1,100,000,000 So we will penetrate with more content, more quality content like you've seen today. And we also have Star that will also drive subs with the general entertainment, which is something different than what we talked about at the first Investor Day.
And we're also looking at the content being 4 quadrants. So people with kids, people without kids, males, females, all the different demographics, we think they will find content that they want to consume on our services. So because of that, we believe that we will increase the penetration. And interestingly, right now, we have there are more families without kids than we expected. So I know that there have been some comments or news stories or articles that talk about it, our service Disney plus being intended more for kids.
And I would tell you that the observation we have, which is real and data driven, is that more people without kids are subscribers today.
Okay. Thanks for the question. We will now go to Brian Kraft with Deutsche Bank. Brian, nice to see you. Go ahead, ask your question.
Thanks and good nice to see you guys too. Can you give us a sense as to what total content amortization is in 2020 that's analogous to that $14,000,000,000 to $16,000,000,000 in 2024? And also, I was just wondering if you could clarify, you said you're targeting 100 new originals per year. Is that a 2024 target? Or is that something that happens sooner than that, like 'twenty one and 'twenty two?
Thanks.
I'll take the second question, then I'll leave you for the first one. We announced today over 100 titles. So that's a relatively immediate goal. And again, that's 63 series and 42 films, 80% of which are initially destined for our direct to consumer channels. And by the way, as you know, pretty much every one of our movies ultimately ends up or series ends up on the direct to consumer services anyway.
But that's really a more immediate goal, but we continue to expect to do that throughout the life of this plan that we disclosed today.
And on the content amortization, the original guidance that we gave at the original Investor Day was 2,000,000,000 dollars and that is consistent with what actually occurred in fiscal 2020. And we haven't gone out we're not going to be talking about amortization as much as we're going to be talking about content spend. But you can anticipate that the cash content spend will be higher than the expense on the P and L for the years when we're still ramping up the content investment. So that's a dynamic that I think you're pretty familiar with, with other streaming services, and we will have that same dynamic.
Okay. And Brian, good to see you. Thanks. Thanks for joining us. We're going to take one last question and that will come from John Hodulik with UBS.
John, the line is yours.
Thank you for fitting me in and good to see you all. Is the premium access product just a function of the pandemic or do you expect it to extend once we're past all this? And have you guys found the right pricing with the Yulan release?
Right. In terms of the premium access strategy, that is, as I think Karim shared in the presentation, the offering, the DTC offering when we're day in date with theatrical. Obviously, right now, that works fairly well as we have a theatrical business that is being very, very challenged. That enables us not to have the title stacking up, if you will, by being able to encourage us to go ahead and release a title in the theatrical market maybe before we're back up to 100% penetration. So to your point, it really works really well now during the pandemic.
We're going to see as we get more and more experience whether we think that's a strategy that can go forward as a business model. That piece of it though goes to the 2nd change dynamic because we mentioned there's COVID, but there's also changing consumer demand. And we're going to read every single title we're doing Raya in March will be a data point for us to better understand what PremierX can be Axis can be both in a COVID world and in a post COVID world.
John, thanks for that question. And thanks to Bob and Christine. And this brings to a close our Investor Day. I want to thank all of you for spending so much of your time with us today. I'd also like to take a moment, if I may, to thank everyone here at Disney who worked on the team and worked so incredibly hard over the past couple of months to create today's Investor Day.
We hope that it provided you with a better understanding of why we are so enthusiastic about our future. For those of you who are celebrating, we wish you a very happy Hanukkah tonight, and we wish all of you a very good evening. Thanks so much.