Well, for one thing, the social distancing and possible mandatory quarantining across the U.S. could mean that theater releases will continue to get pushed to streaming and video on demand much earlier than originally intended. We’ve already seen this happen with a few Universal films that are still in theaters, including the critically-acclaimed horror flick The Invisible Man. There’s a chance that Disney may elect to do something similar with The Rise of Skywalker in the coming weeks, releasing the movie on Disney+ as a public service to subscribers stuck at home during the health crisis.
If The Rise of Skywalker were to stick to Disney’s regular theater-to-streaming release window, it’s likely fans won’t see the movie on Disney+ until sometime in May or June. Perhaps Disney is even saving the movie for a Disney+ debut on May 4, the unofficial Star Wars Day. Besides, with the recent digital release, Disney will likely want to make some money on video on demand before sending the movie to its streaming service. Either way, Star Wars fans would be in for a much longer wait of at least two more months before getting The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ in this case.
But, if the Mouse House were to decide to drop the movie on Disney+ early — and assuming that it sticks to releasing movies three months earlier than scheduled — fans could see the movie on the streaming service in late March or early April. That’s just a few weeks away!
What’s the likelihood of this happening? Well, considering that it seems that social distancing and staying indoors is a reality we’ll have to all deal with for the at least the next few weeks — many states have closed non-essential businesses and facilities through March and into April — there’s a good chance Disney will continue to release movies onto its streaming service earlier than intended.
For now, this is all speculation on our part, but we’ll keep you updated as we hear more about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+.
