You’ll be able to watch The Mandalorian and everything else on Disney Plus − legally − earlier than planned
Disney Plus’ UK launch date has been moved forward by a week, which means Star Wars fans all over Blighty will be able to watch The Mandalorian − legally − from Tuesday, March 24.
The streaming service was originally supposed to go live in the UK on March 31, and it isn’t clear why Disney’s plans have now shifted − albeit very slightly.
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When it goes live, it will cost £5.99 per month, or £59.99 for 12 months (which works out at £4.99 each month).
For a sense of pricing perspective, Netflix’s Basic plan costs £5.99 per month, its Standard plan costs £8.99 per month, and its Premium plan costs £11.99 per month. Amazon Prime, meanwhile, costs £7.99 per month or £79 per year (which is £6.58 per month), and Apple TV Plus costs £4.99 per month.
Disney Plus will also launch in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the same day, where it will cost €6.99 per month, or €69.99 per year (via Variety).
The platform launched in the US, Canada and the Netherlands on November 12 last year, before going live in New Zealand and Australia a week later.
Disney fans around the world who have had to wait have found the delay frustrating, but the staggered rollout was deemed unavoidable due to ongoing content licensing deals. For instance, in the UK, a lot of Disney property is currently licensed to Sky.
Despite its currently very limited availability, Disney Plus already appears to have cemented its place as one of Netflix’s main rivals.
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Figures published last week showed that the Disney Plus mobile app has already been downloaded 41 million times by Android and iOS users, and it’s generated an estimated $97.2m in user spending.
Furthermore, analysts have told us that they expect the platform to keep going in this direction, forecasting that Disney Plus will reach a revenue of $120m by the end of the first quarter of 2020, crediting The Mandalorian with fuelling much of its growth.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.