Disney+ to 'double its content' with the launch of Star in February 2021

Tom Butler
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment UK
·2-min read
Bruce Willis running with automatic weapon in a scene from the film 'Die Hard', 1988. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)
Bruce Willis running with automatic weapon in a scene from the film 'Die Hard', 1988. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)

Disney has confirmed plans to increase its Disney+ offering in the UK with the launch of Star, a new entertainment platform within its subscription streaming service.

Capitalising on Disney’s more mature output produced by the 20th Century Studios brands, Star will – according to the press blurb – “double the amount of content” available on Disney+, and will launch in the UK on 23 February, 2021.

It’s reported to appear as the sixth tile on the Disney+ homepage (alongside Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar and National Geographic) and will likely be included in the current subscription fee. Users will be able to opt out of mature content, and set age gates for family viewing.

Read more: The best Christmas movies on Disney+

Star will become “home to thousands of hours of television and movies from Disney’s creative studios, including Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television.”

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 20th Century Studios' Death on the Nile, a mystery-thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel. (20th Century Studios)
Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 20th Century Studios' Death on the Nile, a mystery-thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel. (20th Century Studios)

This opens up the streaming service to add iconic film franchises such Alien, Predator, Die Hard, Kingsman and Planet of the Apes along with classic TV series including Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The X Files, Family Guy and Sons of Anarchy although no official announcements have been made so far.

Many former Fox properties including The Simpsons, Ice Age, Home Alone and Avatar have already found a home on Disney+.

Star was first announced by Disney CEO Bob Chapek in August this year.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - AUGUST 28: Bob Chapek Chairman of Parks, Experiences, and Products for the Walt Disney Company speaks during the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Dedication Ceremony at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 28, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)
Bob Chapek, former Chairman of Parks, Experiences, and Products for the Walt Disney Company speaks during the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Dedication Ceremony, 2019. (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

“In terms of the general entertainment offering internationally, we want to mirror our successful Disney Plus strategy by using our Disney Plus technical platform, bringing in content we already own and distributing it under a successful international brand that we also already own, which is, of course, Star,” Chapek told investors.

Over confirmed Disney+ highlights for 2021 include WandaVision (15 January), Loki (May 2021), The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (19 March 2021), plus a number of new Disney Live Actions coming to Disney+ including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Night at the Museum, and series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.

Watch a trailer for Marvel Studios’ Loki

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