What Is Disney’s OTHER Streaming Service, Star? And Can You Get Star in the US?

By Carolyn Menyes Leave a Comment

If you’re a BIG fan of all things Disney and all things film, chances are you’ve definitely heard of Disney+! And there’s a chance you’ve also heard at least a little bit about Disney’s OTHER streaming service Star, also known as Star+.

©Disney

So, you just might be wondering WHAT is Star and Star+? And when can we get it here in the US?

According to a press release and fact sheet from Disney, Star is Disney’s international general entertainment content brand, featuring TV shows and movies from Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, Touchstone, and more. For instance, an example of what Star will look like features The Shape of Water, the 2017 Oscar-winner originally distributed by Searchlight Pictures. We also spot non-Disney titles like Bob’s Burgers, Kingsman, and Love, Victor.

©Disney

Wait, doesn’t that look like Disney+? Well, Star is set to launch in Europe and other international markets on as a fully integrated part of Disney+, and it will appear with its own catalog as an option for streaming like how you can select Pixar, Disney, and National Geographic titles. Because Star may have more mature films and TV shows than the rest of Disney+’s family-friendly content, Disney+ will be updated to offer enhanced parental controls.

©Disney

Star will launch in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and other markets on February 23rd, 2021, as announced during Disney Investor Day 2020! With its launch, a Disney+ prince increase to €8.99 per month or €89.99 per year will follow. The rollout of Star will continue in Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea later in 2021.

Disney Investor Day ©Disney

So, what’s Star+? Star+ will launch as a standalone streaming service in Latin America. It will feature local original productions (32, to be exact, by the end of year 1), live sports from ESPN (such as top soccer leagues and grand slam tennis) as well as 32 seasons of The Simpsons and 2,000 other titles by the end of 2021.

©The Simpsons

Star+ will launch in June 2021 as a stand-alone service for about $7.50 in local currency as a standalone service of bundled with Disney+ for $9. As of now, Disney has no plans to launch Star in the United States as far as we know. And it’s essentially the international answer to Hulu anyway. But we’ll always have Disney+ (and Hulu, and Netflix, and YouTube TV, and Sling, and Peacock, and the dozens of other streaming services).