Over 500 international Disney+ Originals currently in production

Disney+ is currently available in 64 countries across North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific and Latin America and is expanding to over 40 more countries this summer, which is one of the reasons Disney is expects the streaming service to reach around 250 million subscribers around the world by 2024.

As part of this international expansion, Disney has bolstered its international production on new Originals for Disney+. We’ve already seen international originals released globally on Disney+, including “Snowdrop”, “Intertwined”, “Oussekine” and many more set to hit our screens over the next few years.

Earlier this year, Rebecca Campbell was named president of international content and operations for Disney. She oversees Disney’s international media teams in Asia Pacific, EMEA, India and Latin America that manage the company’s international linear channels, regional streaming, local ad sales and local distribution.

During a recent quarterly investor call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek shared some details about the number of Originals currently in production.

We currently have over 500 local original titles in various stages of development and production. 180 of these titles are expected to be released this fiscal year, growing to more than 300 international originals per year on a steady-state basis. We believe these premium local originals, along with branded content with broad international appeal, will attract new subscribers and drive engagement. An example in production is Nautilus from our EMEA team. Based on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Nautilus is the origin story of the iconic submarine from the perspective of its mysterious commander, Captain Nemo.

Christine McCarthy, Disney’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer also provided more details on the call for investors for these upcoming International Originals:

But as Bob mentioned, we have about 500 shows in the pipeline for local content outside of the United States or the English language. When you look at these 500, I’m going to give you some big breakdowns.

In the Asia-Pacific region, including Southeast Asia, of those 500, 140 are in that region. In EMEA it’s 150. In India it’s 100. And in Latin America it’s 200.

So we haven’t given that before, but I think that also divides the different regions we’re in outside of the United States.

There are many reasons why Disney is dramatically increasing its investment in international content. This often helps to meet certain local quotas, but more importantly, to attract consumers who want stories they can more easily relate to.

What do you think of Disney expanding its international original production?

Roger Palmier

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a child and that interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney parks around the world and has an extensive collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What’s On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk