'Raya and the Last Dragon' Viewers Have the Option of Watching in Theaters or on Disney Plus

Disney fans will be excited to learn that Raya and the Last Dragon will be released on March 5, 2021. The movie follows the story of a young warrior named Raya who is tasked with tracking down the last dragon in the fantasy world of Kumandra in order to save it from evil monsters called the Druun.

From the same studio that showed us how to truly love the sea with Moana and the importance of sisterhood with Frozen, this movie shows Raya teaming up with some unlikely characters to protect her home.

But people want to know if you will be able to watch Raya and the Last Dragon for free on Disney Plus. Here's what we know.

If you're looking for some viewing options, you're in luck. Raya and the Last Dragon will be released in theaters, but that doesn't mean people who would rather avoid big crowds are missing out. Raya will also stream on Disney Plus the same day. In fact, those who choose to stream may get to see it first.

In many cases, Disney Plus releases movies at 12 a.m. ET so fans can watch movies as soon as the day starts. Those who want to watch it in theaters will have to wait until they open. 

Unfortunately, for Disney Plus viewers, you still have to pay up. Raya and the Last Dragon will be behind a paywall, so even with a subscription to the streaming service, you have to pay an additional fee for premier access just like with the live-action version of Mulan, which came with a $29.99 price tag at first. Raya and the Last Dragon also carries that $29.99 price tag.

Viewers who pay the fee for early access will be able to stream and download the movie as many times as they'd like until it releases for free on June 4, so long as they're a subscriber.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, lots of movies are going directly to streaming platforms and Disney is doing the same with many of its upcoming releases. In a tweet, the media company listed a bunch of films that will be released in theaters and Disney Plus the same day, including 10 Marvel movies, 10 Star Wars movies, and 15 live-action films. 

Streaming movies on release day from the comfort of your TV screen may be convenient, but it doesn't do the movie theater industry any good. Since Disney has decided to release so many movies directly to its streaming platform, it's been accused of "killing" movie theaters. 

According to Insider, distributors were "shocked" when Disney decided to pull its live-action Mulan from theaters in favor of streaming. The movie was only released in theaters in countries where Disney Plus wasn't available. 

At the time, the CEO of Disney, Bob Chapek, said that the Mulan decision was a "one-off" strategy that wasn't meant to be used for all of its movies going forward. That's definitely not the case anymore, but this choice means that theaters miss out on a lot of money they would have gotten in ticket, food, and drink sales if the movie was exclusive to them at least for a short amount of time.