The streaming wars are heating up, Disney announces new Disney+

Ever since Disney announced it would pull all its movies from Netflix in 2019 the company has been working on its own streaming service.

CEO Bob Iger finally announced more details about that service on Thursday during the company’s earnings call. The new service will be called Disney+ and is slated to launch in late 2019. Hulu’s fate was also discussed, along with the overarching vision for their expanded TV operations.

Strong fiscal fourth-quarter earnings were also reported, in part to the pending $71.3 billion acquisition of key 21st Century Fox assets. Shares in the company went up as much as 2 percent after earnings and revenue estimates were surpassed.

More about Disney+

The branding of Disney+ follows the ESPN+ service that was released earlier this year. Iger says that the ESPN+ service has 1 million paid subscribers after only 5 months of operation.

The Disney+ service will have all the Disney back-catalog, as well as new, original shows and movies, including original Marvel and Star Wars series. Tom Hiddleston will reprise his Loki role for an original series on the service. There’s also a prequel series to the Star Wars Rogue One movie in the works, based around the character Cassian Andor who is played by Diego Luna.

The High School Musical franchise will also be rebooted, and the service will serve as a hub for animated content, including a new original animated series based on Pixar’s Monsters Inc.

Image: Disney

There’s a placeholder site for the service that’s up now, showing off logos of brands like Pixar, National Geographic and Marvel. You’ll have to wait until April next year for a look at how the service will function though.

What happens to Hulu?

Hulu won’t be forgotten, with the competing service (that Disney will have a 60% stake in) focused on general entertainment, while the Disney+ service will be focused on the family-friendly material, says Iger.

What do you think about Disney+? Will it be on your list of streaming services to pay for? Let us know in the comments.

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