Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter
Over four months after its threatrical release, Wish – the latest animated flick from Walt Disney Pictures – has made its Disney Plus debut. We’ve only updated our ‘coming soon’ section in this week’s article update, which now stands at a very healthy…erm… singular flick.
Searching for all of the new Disney Plus movies that have been released recently? You’re in luck. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the new movies to hit the streamer since March 1 – and that includes the really, really bad ones, such as Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off film Morbius.
Those of you who only want to watch the greatest films that Disney Plus has to offer should head to our best Disney Plus movies article instead. But, if you’ve somehow exhausted all of those options on one of the world’s best streaming services – US readers should note some of this article’s entries are only streamable on Hulu – there might be something below that may be of interest. So, what are you waiting for? Get reading and watching!
New Disney Plus movies: April
Wish
Release date: April 3
Runtime: 100 minutes
Age rating: U (US and UK)
Directors: Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn
Cast: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Evan Peters, Ramy Yousseff, and Harvey Guillen
Rotten Tomatoes (RT) score: 48% (critics); 81% (audience)
Wish was the animated film that was supposed to celebrate all things Disney during its landmark 100th birthday. Unfortunately, whether it was the janky visuals that were a cross between 2D and 3D, plus its generic plot and soundtrack (read our Wish review to find out more about what we thought of it), the entertainment giant’s latest animated offering wasn’t as good as we’d hoped.
For the uninitiated: DeBose voices Asha, a Rosas-dwelling teen who, alongside a sentient wishing star called… well, Star and her goat sidekick Valentino (Tudyk), attempt to put an end to King Magnifico’s (Pine) tyrannical rein over his subjects’ wishes. You can learn more about the centenary-positioned flick’s development in our exclusive chat with its creators, who told us all about Disney’s legacy-built movie that celebrates 100 years of wish fulfillment.
New Disney Plus movies: March
Next Goal Wins
Release date: March 27
Runtime: 104 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US); 12A (UK)
Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, and Beulah Koale
RT score: 45% (critics); 84% (audience)
Based on the sports documentary of the same name, this Waititi-directed flick stars Fassbender (X-Men, Prometheus) as Thomas Rongen, a Dutch-American soccer coach who attempts to lead the Pacific island nation of America Samoa to the 2014 World Cup.
A sports dramady in every sense of the word, Next Goal Wins is something of a mishit for the usually talented Waititi. True, it’s packed with his usual wit and deadpan charm, but it fails to capture the delightful, laugh-out-loud funny, and heart-wrenching tone of some of his better works, such as Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, JoJo Rabbit, and Reservation Dogs (the latter being part of our best Disney Plus shows list). It’s worth checking out if you’re a Fassbender and/or Waititi diehard, but I’d otherwise suggest you steer clear of this own goal of a movie.
Watch Next Goal Wins on Disney Plus.
Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)
Release date: March 15
Runtime: 210 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US), 14-plus (UK)
Director: Sam Wrench
Cast: Taylor Swift
RT score: 99% (critics); 98% (audience)
Not content with conquering the music world, pop superstar Taylor Swift wasn’t far off dominating the film industry late last year. Indeed, the predecessor to this lengthier concert film – Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – earned over $260 million at the box office last year, which made it the 11th highest-grossing film of last year.
Now, a longer version of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is available to stream exclusively on Disney’s primary streaming service. Dubbed Taylor’s Version, it contains five additional songs – the fan-favorite ‘Cardigan’, plus four acoustic numbers – that takes its runtime to a whopping three hours and 30 minutes. Grab your beverage of choice, plenty of snacks, and invite your friends around for a Swifties watch party to check one of the hottest new Disney Plus movies this year. Once you’re done, stream these three fantastic concert movies next.
Watch Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) on Disney Plus.
Poor Things
Release date: March 7 (also available on Hulu)
Runtime: 141 minutes
Age rating: R (US) / 18 (UK)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, and Willem Dafoe
RT score: 92% (critics); 79% (audience)
A wildly creative, outlandishly funny, and Frankenstein’s Monster-inspired flick, Poor Things is a freakishly brilliant movie that deserves every award it’s won this year.
Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man, La La Land) plays Bella Baxter, a young woman who’s brought back to life by eccentric scientist Doctor Godwin Baxter (Dafoe). Desperate to enjoy all of life’s frivolities, Bella disobeys her father’s orders to stay at home, and chooses instead to run away with debaucherous lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Ruffalo) on a whirlwind, continent-spanning journey of self-discovery.
Poor Things is a triumph for visual storytelling, practical effects and sets, and reinventing a classic tale of what it means to be human. One to add to your new Disney Plus movies watchlist ASAP (NB: Poor Things was released on Hulu in late February).
Watch Poor Things on Disney Plus.
Morbius
Release date: March 1 (US only)
Runtime: 104 minutes
Age rating: PG-13
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, and Tyrese Gibson
RT score: 15% (critics); 71% (audience)
One of many Sony-created Spider-Man movie spin-offs that are – how can I put this politely – awful, Morbius is now available on Disney’s primary streaming service.
Leto stars as Doctor Michael Morbius, a geneticist whose attempt to cure his rare blood disease turns him into a living vampire. When his surrogate brother Milo (Smith) also becomes a more menacing, blood-sucking, superpowered individual after having the same treatment, Leto’s Morbius reluctantly becomes an anti-hero to stop his sibling’s rampage across New York City.
Arguably the world Spider-Man spin-off thus far (Madame Web runs it close), Morbius‘ isn’t worth an ounce of your time. That’s in spite of what its audience RT rating suggests, too. Stick one of the best Spider-Man movies on or, alternatively, find out how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order. Doing either is better than wasting your time with one of this month’s new Disney Plus movies.
Watch Morbius on Disney Plus. (NB: it’s available on Netflix in the UK and Foxtel in Australia).
New Disney Plus movies: what’s coming soon?
If you were expecting a long list of new Disney Plus movies to be on the way soon, we’ve got bad news for you. There’s only one that’s due out on the service in the weeks ahead, which you can read about below:
- The Greatest Hits – April 12 (UK and Australia; Hulu in the US)
Not up for a movie? Try our pick of the best Disney Plus shows, see if there’s a free Disney Plus trial available, read our Disney Plus review, or get the lowdown on the new Disney Plus price points.