The much ballyhooed boycott of Mulan may be fizzling, if new estimates out are to be believed.
Yahoo Finance reports that Disney’s calculated risk releasing a $200 million movie on Disney+ is paying off.
The analytics firm 7 Park Data estimates nearly 29% of Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. have paid the $30 to stream Mulan.
According to MovieWeb, that would mean Mulan has made more money streaming than Tenet has made with a theatrical release.
7 Park Data, using estimated figures on Disney’s total subscriber base in the United States, believes the studio has made a profit of more than $261 million in the U.S. alone.
In addition, spending on Disney+ increased 193% over the weekend before in the first weekend of Mulan’s release, according to the app download research firm, Sensor Tower.
Disney has not released any streaming numbers on Mulan, but has said it is “very pleased” with the results so far, Reuters reported on September 9.
The latest estimates from 7 Park Data contradict earlier figures released from international markets which indicated Mulan was a bust. Those figures indicated Mulan had made just $5.9 million in theaters in Croatia, Czech Rep, Middle East, Slovakia, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Disney+ is not available in those countries.
In addition, social media has been filled with calls to boycott Mulan over controversial remarks made by star Liu Yifei in support of China’s crackdown on Democratic protesters in Hong Kong. The boycott picked up more steam after many noticed Disney thanked the region of Xinjiang in its end credits. That area has been criticized for its alleged mistreatment of ethnic minorities.
Strong streaming numbers for Disney could be bad news for the theater industry which is concerned it could lose even more movie viewers to those who would rather watch first run movies at home.
However, it also should be noted that enthusiasm for Mulan will likely decline as it often does with first run movies after its initial release.
Disney may not release official figures on Mulan until its next earnings call in early November.
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