"Star Wars" and the Marvel comic-book movies will join Disney's upcoming streaming service , potentially giving it broader appeal beyond families with young children.
The Disney service will be the only place to stream those movies on demand in the U.S. as part of a monthly subscription. (So, not on Netflix.)
A price hasn't been announced yet. The service is expected in late 2019 after Disney's current deal with Netflix expires.
FILE - In this Monday, March 13, 2017, file photo, The Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger attends a special screening of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" at Alice Tully Hall in New York. Disney is adding more firepower to the kids streaming service expected in 2019. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Previously Disney announced the inclusion of just Disney and Pixar movies and Disney TV shows. Adding the "Star Wars" and Marvel movies could make the new service appealing to teenagers and adults. The Marvel movies include the "Avengers" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchises.
The service will also have original Disney movies, TV series and shorts. Disney CEO Bob Iger said thousands of TV episodes and hundreds of movies will be available, though shows from Disney's ABC network aren't coming to the service.
Disney said last month that it was considering moving "Star Wars" and Marvel to the new service, but a decision wasn't announced until Thursday.
Disney did not say whether all the "Star Wars" movies dating back to the 1977 would be available on the service, or all the films in the Marvel universe. A spokesman had no immediate comment. Netflix also has a TV series based on Marvel characters, and Netflix said Thursday that relationship continues. As with the Disney and Pixar movies, Marvel and "Star Wars" movies that play in theaters in 2018 will be on Netflix for U.S. viewers, and some films will be available into 2020.
Disney's offering is one of many online film and TV options coming from entertainment and tech companies, with more in the works. Disney, for example, is also launching an ESPN sports streaming service early next year. It won't replicate what's on ESPN, for now, so it's expected to be somewhat niche.
The company's shares slid $4.05, or 4 percent, to $97.46 in Thursday afternoon trading. Investors may have sold because Iger said earnings per share for this fiscal year will be similar to the level for the year that ended on Oct. 1, 2016. Wall Street analysts had predicted growth.
MOSCOW (AP) — Worshippers including President Vladimir Putin packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral for a nighttime Easter service led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin.
The traditional sung service begun late Saturday, with Kirill delivering well-wishes to Orthodox believers which were broadcast on Russian TV. A procession of white-robed clergy then circled the vast cathedral, rebuilt in post-Soviet times and widely seen as symbolic of Russia’s rejection of its atheist past, as they swung smoking incense censers and chanted the liturgy.
Most Western churches observed Easter on March 31, but the Russian Orthodox Church follows a different calendar.
In his Easter address, Kirill wished for “God’s blessing over Russia,” its people and all countries where the church has a presence.
In a written message published earlier on Saturday on the church's website, Kirill noted that “awareness of God’s love … gives us strength to overcome the most difficult mental states and difficult circumstances, elevates us above the bustle of everyday life, helps correct previous mistakes and destroys despondency.”
The patriarch this year appeared to steer clear from political pronouncements, unlike last April when he lamented “grave events taking place on our Russian historical land,” referencing Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine and reinforcing the Kremlin’s narrative that Ukrainian statehood is essentially a fiction.
The service, featuring a mixed-voice choir and standing worshippers holding thin red candles, was set to extend well into Sunday.
Putin was shown among the worshippers, standing next to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin as the two joined in the traditional Easter greetings. The Russian leader was later seen exchanging festive gifts with Kirill.
Earlier on Saturday, Orthodox Russians headed to churches to have baskets of festive foods, including hand-painted eggs and traditional Easter cakes, blessed by a priest.
Putin has been eager to portray himself as defending “traditional values” espoused by the Russian Orthodox Church in the face of what he repeatedly casts as the West’s “degrading” influence. The country has increasingly taken a conservative turn, with attempts to restrict abortion and broad bans against LGBTQ+ activism and gender transitioning that have met with the church's support.
An Orthodox believer looks at her candle during Orthodox Easter midnight service at a church in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Eastern Orthodox churches observe the ancient Julian calendar and this year celebrate Orthodox Easter on May 5. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
An Orthodox believer puts out her candle after Orthodox Easter midnight service at a church in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Eastern Orthodox churches observe the ancient Julian calendar and this year celebrate Orthodox Easter on May 5. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Orthodox believers walk with candles around a church during Orthodox Easter midnight service in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Eastern Orthodox churches observe the ancient Julian calendar and this year celebrate Orthodox Easter on May 5. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Orthodox believers walk with candles around a church during Orthodox Easter midnight service in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Eastern Orthodox churches observe the ancient Julian calendar and this year celebrate Orthodox Easter on May 5. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Orthodox believers walk with candles around a church during Orthodox Easter midnight service in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Eastern Orthodox churches observe the ancient Julian calendar and this year celebrate Orthodox Easter on May 5. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Orthodox pries and believers walk with candles around a church during Orthodox Easter midnight service in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Eastern Orthodox churches observe the ancient Julian calendar and this year celebrate Orthodox Easter on May 5. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin attend the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
