Disney’s Decision To Leave Netflix: When Is It Leaving? Why? What Will Be Added? What Won’t Make It?
A huge and shocking announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon as Disney revealed they would be ending their partnership with Netflix to develop their own streaming service. It was something that kind of came out of nowhere as Disney confirmed they have a good relationship with Netflix, but they want to do their own thing. Now, it’s time to look at the full details of this entire thing and see why it’s happening, when, what is leaving, and what won’t make it to Netflix at all.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney CEO Bob Iger said this move is being done as “a strategic shift in the way we distribute our content.” This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone as Disney continues to look to make every single thing it does its own entity and from within the company.
Now, there are a lot of questions as to how this whole thing will go down and what fans can do about still getting their Disney fix. Well, there are always DVDs, Blu-rays, and for now, there is still Netflix. Until 2019, Disney’s streaming service isn’t going to be in place, but they’re not going to have anyone do without for any length of time.
Why is this happening?
Disney doesn’t have a bad relationship with Netflix and nothing bad has happened. They are simply at a point where they would rather present all of their movies and TV shows on their own platform. Disney is doing this by creating its own streaming service which does not yet have a pricing system that has been revealed.
When is this happening?
As of this time, Disney has simply said that their streaming service is set to begin in “2019,” but an exact launch date is not yet known. That date of 2019, though, is very important as that is when Disney will stop releasing new content on Netflix even before their service is ready to go.
Will any new Disney additions be coming to Netflix?
Even though Bob Iger’s words didn’t give a lot of details, it is believed that there will still be new additions from Disney into the Netflix library. He did say that the distribution agreement with Netflix would end with the beginning of the theatrical release schedule in 2019.
So, as things currently stand on the schedule, these movies from Disney’s family of studios should still land on Netflix before the agreement ends:
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – May 11, 2017
- Cars 3– July 14, 2017
- Thor: Ragnarok – Nov. 3, 2017
- Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi – Dec. 15, 2017
- Black Panther – Feb. 16, 2018
- A Wrinkle In Time – March 9, 2018
- Magic Camp – Apr. 6, 2018
- Avengers: Infinity War – May 4, 2018
- Untitled Han Solo movie, Star Wars spinoff – May 28, 2018
- Ant-Man and The Wasp – July 6, 2018
- The Incredibles 2 – June 15, 2018
- Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet – Nov. 21, 2018
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms – Nov. 2, 2018
- Mary Poppins Returns – Dec. 25, 2018
What won’t end up on Netflix?
For now, it isn’t 100 percent certain if anything other than Disney and Pixar films will leave Netflix, but it is hard to think that Marvel and Lucasfilm releases won’t follow them. Here are some of the films that likely won’t end up on Netflix at all:
- Captain Marvel – Mar. 8, 2019
- Dumbo (live-action) – Mar. 29, 2019
- Untitled Avengers 4 film – May 3, 2019
- Star Wars Episode IX – May 24, 2019
- Toy Story 4 – June 21, 2019
- Untitled Indiana Jones film – July 19, 2019
- The Lion King – July 19, 2019
- Frozen 2 – Nov. 27, 2019
Other films include anything being released after 2019 such as Jungle Cruise, other Marvel movies, other Lucasfilm movies, and any other Disney live-action remakes including Aladdin and Cruella.
As reported by the L.A. Times, it does seem as if any and all movies from the major Disney studios will leave Netflix for their own streaming platform. It was revealed, though, that the original Marvel programming will remain on Netflix which means Daredevil, The Defenders, Jessica Jones, and others will not move to Disney’s new service.
A lot of questions still remain as to this entire situation with Disney creating its own streaming service by 2019, but one thing is confirmed and it is that Netflix will suffer some. As soon as Disney made the unexpected announcement on Tuesday, shares of Netflix dropped 4 percent and it is possible they may sink even more. Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm could all have a new streaming home in less than two years, and that means a lot of changes are on the way.
[Featured Image by Walt Disney Studios/Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios/Pixar]
