Will Hulu Be Folded Into Disney+ Because There's Strength in Numbers?
For more than a year now, there has been speculation that Disney might one day fold Hulu into its Disney+ streaming service, and sure enough, Collider is hearing that multiple Hulu executives have been leaving or let go from the streaming service in anticipation of the move, which makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.
The working theory is that there's strength in numbers, and The Walt Disney Company would look much more appealing to Wall Street investors if it could boast of having 110 million subscribers on a single service, rather than 73.7 million on Disney+ and 36.6 million on Hulu. It simply makes more sense to combine the two streaming services into one single juggernaut that appeals to both families and adults.
After all, Hollywood is in the midst of the Streaming Wars, and these days, streaming services have to be all things to all people. Netflix is way out in front given the sizable head start it has had on most of its competitors, but that doesn't mean its lead is insurmountable. If any streamer can catch Netflix, it's Disney+ thanks to the massive IP it has at its disposal, from Marvel to Star Wars to Pixar.
But there are still large swaths of adults who don't have kids and aren't interested in those blockbuster brands. Hulu has a lot of great original programming, especially since the FX on Hulu experiment began, and Disney is said to be eager to bring those subscribers under one roof.
Questions remain as to what Disney+ would look like in that scenario, but it wouldn't be too difficult to put parental controls on mature content, or require some kind of passcode to access certain films and TV shows. While some naysayers suggest Disney would never do anything to jeopardize its family-friendly brand, others argue that consumers have become savvy enough to navigate those choppy waters.
In fact, when the news broke that
the Molyneux sisters had been
tapped to write Deadpool 3, many wrongly assumed the sequel would be PG-13 now that it was under the Disney umbrella. However, Deadline reporter
Justin Kroll dispelled that notion, tweeting that
Ryan Reynolds' comic book sequel
is expected to carry a R-rating, just like the first two installments. It's that kind of move that indicates Disney might be willing to budge on its stance.
Disney is also sitting on a treasure trove of library titles acquired in the Fox deal, so if people want to watch
Die Hard, doesn't it make more sense to make that film available in an adults-only section of Disney+ rather than a sister-but-still-separate streaming service?
Rumors persist that Hulu will be folded into Disney Plus, which might make sense for Disney down the line from a business perspective.
collider.com
