This year marks the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Pictures, and the studio’s latest film, Wish, pays homage to its past by telling a new story about a wishing star. Ariana DeBose headlines the movie as Asha, a 17-year-old girl living in the magical kingdom of Rosas. When Asha turns 18, the custom is that she will have to give up her fondest wish to Rosas’ founder, King King Magnifico (Chris Pine), who may or may not grant it.
Once Asha realizes that Magnifico is hoarding wishes for selfish reasons, she makes a wish upon a star, and the star answers by coming to Earth. The star even gives Asha’s goat, Valentino (Alan Tudyk), the ability to speak and sing, which was his fondest wish. Now, this unlikely trio will have to save the kingdom from its king.
Angelique Cabral also lends her voice to the film as Queen Amaya, with Victor Garber as Sabino, Natasha Rothwell as Sakina, Jennifer Kumiyama as Dahlia, Harvey Guillén as Gabo, Niko Vargas as Hal, Evan Peters as Simon, Ramy Youssef as Safi, Jon Rudnitsky as Dario, and Della Saba as Bazeema.
Disney’s Wish was directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn from a screenplay by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore. Lee, Buck, Moore, and Veerasunthorn also share a credit for Wish‘s original story. Now, it’s time to tell you whether Disney’s Wish is already streaming.
Is Disney’s Wish streaming?
No, not yet. Disney and most of the other major studios have largely abandoned simultaneous day and date theatrical and streaming premieres because it keeps people from seeing movies in theaters. The lone exception to that rule is Universal’s Five Nights At Freddy’s, which opened to $80 million despite streaming on Peacock at the same time. Those are atypical results.
Wish is also hitting theaters at a time when even Marvel’s The Marvels has gone cold, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has barely registered. It’s too soon to say how well Wish will perform at the box office, since we won’t have a clear picture of how it’s doing until Friday at the earliest. But perhaps there’s an opportunity for Wish to break out, unlike last year’s disastrous Disney release, Strange World.
Will Disney’s Wish be available to stream at home?
Yes, but probably not this year. Disney movies tend to get theatrical releases for at least 30 days exclusively in theaters. If Wish were to hit streaming in exactly 30 days, it would arrive just before Christmas with little time to promote that premiere. That would only happen if Wish flops on arrival in theaters. Call it the Strange World effect, because we saw this scenario unfold last year.
Here’s what you can bet on: Wish will definitely be streaming on Disney+ in early 2024. As for an exact date, it’s too soon to say.
Wish is now playing in theaters.
