Disney calls it the future of the company:Disney Plus. It's the entertainment giant's upcoming streaming service for almost everything it creates. It'll be the exclusive home for streaming the company's blockbusterStar Wars, Marvel and Pixar movies -- Avengers: Endgame, for example, will be available to stream on Dec. 11. In addition, Disney is ramping up a slate of original shows and movies based on those brands and others.
On Monday, Disney opened up discounted online preorders for Disney Plus-- if you pay upfront for a three-year subscription. A "Founders Circle" offer cuts $23 off the annual price if you commit to three years. That works out to be $140.97 total, or the equivalent of $3.92 a month. The offer was first available over the weekend to people who attended Disney's biennial fan convention, the D23 Expo. But Monday, Disney opened up the same offer online to all members of its D23 fan club, which anyone can join for free.
The Founders Circle deal is available only to US residents and only to people who are active D23 members as of 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday night. If you're signing up as a new D23 fan-club member, it may take 36 hours to receive your email invitation or passcode to unlock the deal.
The D23 Expo was also the site of Disney Plus' coming-out party. The company put on a parade of trailers, talent and news at a packed event. It revealed plans for six new original series for the streaming service including a Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi serieswith Ewan McGregor reprising his role and three new live-action Marvel showsbased on the charactersMs. Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk. Trailersdropped for the live-action, big-budget Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian and a slew of other shows and movies that'll be on the service when it launches.
And the company started to talk about more features of the service itself. Disney Plus is going to eschew pricing tiers, giving all subscribers access to four simultaneous streams and 4K and HDR high-quality video. It'll also allow you to create seven profiles, so personalization can suit different members of the household. And even though Disney Plus is the company's answer to Netflix, it won't be releasing episodes of its original series all at once like its giant rival does -- new episodes will come out weekly.