The DISNEY Physical Media Situation goes from BAD to WORSE

Disney and Sony struck a deal for Sony to manage all of Disney's physical media business going forward. The writing is on the wall...

[@MrCREWCRUSHIN95]

A) Sony has the infrastructure for creating more discs than Disney does at a lower cost. B) they have already said that they will be INCREASING the number of releases.

[@u77750]

My main concern is the classic Fox Catalog just rotting away. Ideally Sony would be a great company to release them as they arguably the best work. I don’t know if I see it happening as this is Columbia’s 100th anniversary and they are going to focus on their own history. They could have and probably would have done so already, farmed it out to Criterion, Arrow and Kino.

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

That's the thing, I'm most concerned about the films Disney owns in the Fox catalogue. It seems at this point these companies are purposely choosing to destroy physical formats to force everyone onto a streaming platform. However, I suspect that's not going to work. With the ever increasing prices and adverts on streaming, I suspect that many will just turn to piracy. I love owning my movies, I'll happily pay for physical versions, but I'm NEVER going to buy digital films or invest money in streaming.

[@spaceodds1985]

@@ApolloT-vp5dnGood call. As you mentioned above, ‘theoretically’ with piracy you actually own the digital copy, and you outright own it. With a digital service, you don’t.

[@spaceodds1985]

Absolutely. Like I mentioned before Sony would most probably do a stellar job, but with the lack of support from Disney this will be a tough road. Also the Fox catlog us just being sat upon, and boutique labels are an answer, don’t know about you but I doubt the Dario Argento film Inferno will ever turn up on Disney Plus, even if it is a Fox film.

[@spaceodds1985]

Some have said that they are also handling mastering also. If this is the case then IMO it is a good thing. Sony have overall a decent track record on 4K, as opposed to Disney whose own 4K releases are overall an utter joke.

[@ElliotCoen]

That is true, hadn’t thought of that. Sony authoring of discs is much better than Disney’s track record. That said, being good at mastering discs doesn’t matter if we aren’t getting many disc releases!

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

I don't have to go to Disney+ for anything. If there's no physical versions of their films, I'll go to piracy. It's their choice.

[@VFGMovieReviews]

Yes, announcing that you’re willing to commit a crime is a smart thing to do

[@Emma-R]

Agreed. If they don’t want to sell it, I’ll steal it. I’m getting it now matter what.

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

​@@VFGMovieReviews Give it a rest. The big crime is that digital is sold as ownership, when it's really a rental. That's the real crime... so why would I invest in something they can take away without warning? Give me physical, which I buy a LOT of, or you give me no option.

[@chrisjfox8715]

These services are going to make it a headache eventually

[@VFGMovieReviews]

@@ApolloT-vp5dn unless you buy it you don’t have to write to make a copy of it. You are not the owner of that IP so you don’t have the right to do it and they’re not not making physical media anymore think he’s just kind of blowing this out of proportion. Most people that that like to commit crimes always have to try to justify it in their head.

[@googleuser1522]

So let me get this straight, Disney goes to the trouble of striking up a deal with Sony to handle the distribution and production of their physical disks and then will say to Sony “yes, we have a deal but we have no interest in releasing any new material.” Disney does some dumb things but this would be beyond stupid.

[@ElliotCoen]

I’d put money on this being a way for them to shrink their physical media operations whilst causing least damage internally to their company. I’d be very happy to be wrong in this case!

[@googleuser1522]

@@ElliotCoen here is my theory. Disney has determined they don’t have the distribution and manufacturing capabilities to make it cost effective to restore and release old catalog titles that don’t sell to a wide audience. But Sony does. So they will license out their catalog titles to Sony and let Sony do the heavy lifting. Disney will make less per disc by outsourcing the distribution and manufacturing, but making $1/disc is better than losing $4/disc.

[@ShanghaiRooster]

I agree with your reasoning on this. It would absolutely no sense for Sony to agree such a deal with Disney if their partner's intention was to deliberately bury the product over the next few years. My big worry is that Disney may indulge in censorship of their archive for reasons of 'the message'. They have done so with The French Connection as was discovered by a sharp eyed viewer last year, and did so with Toy Story 2 a couple of years before that. There may be others that will suffer similarly.

[@VFGMovieReviews]

If they were getting out of physical media, why would they strike up a deal with Sony to do this? He’s reading end of things that aren’t there.

[@ChuckLovelace]

Sony also has an investment on the hardware side as one of the inventors or Bluray. They make both BD players and Playstation and computing drives. That and Sony DADC.

[@NervousNecromancer]

I'm not sure this is quite so dire. If they were going to cut physical media, they'd cut it instead of outsourcing it. Clearly there is money in physical media and they know it. Boutique physical media collectors are admittedly a small market of passionate, dedicated collectors. I think downsizing makes sense.

[@dravenlee4473]

I think it’s positive news. Disney doesn’t care about physical media. I’m glad they are letting Sony take over. They could have just said no more physical media period. It doesn’t mean the catalog is open but I think it opens the door to it.

[@ModernPlague]

"YOU WILL OWN NOTHING..."

[@TheStOne1]

I gasped when I heard that Poor Things will not get a 4K Blu-ray release 😮 whaaaaaaat???

[@NewtShack5]

The Favourite didn’t either so I wasn’t surprised.

[@alfsmith7210]

It's honestly a bit of a travesty, especially with Lanthimos films which are so aesthetically intricate which would look beautiful on 4K.

[@TheFilmStudentWatchlist]

That is tragic. What a beautiful movie.

[@synergil3605]

I think people are buying and returning to disc but buying used/second hand to build their collection faster.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

Disney reacting to its financial woes by offering less diverse distribution of its content is bizarre and antithetical to everything that's made it successful. Walt opened a theme park when everyone thought he was crazy for doing so. And the company went all in on physical media and re-releases of its old classics to cinemas every few years. In other words, lots of ways to leverage its holdings. Doing things on the cheap is not visionary, it's small minded. The company has lost the plot.

[@ElliotCoen]

Totally agree. Going all in on one avenue of distribution just feels like a bad idea to me. Then again, I know nothing about running a mega company like Disney. From a consumer standpoint, it just doesn’t look like a great future. Even if you are a person who has no interest in physical media and are all in on streaming, it must feel bad knowing that tv shows and movies will just disappear off the platform never to be seen again (something we’ve already seen and will continue to see).

[@zenquantum1246]

From the company’s POV, they probably see it as control > profit, which is weird. They’d rather have a subscriber base dependent on the company than let customers and fans have their own copies. A future of “you will own nothing and rent everything”

[@celluloidtherapy5003]

@@ElliotCoenYou are all overlooking the big picture. I just posted the reasons behind this…the TRUE reason. It’s got literally nothing to do with money.

[@breadordecide]

I mean, physical media is dying.

[@zenquantum1246]

@@breadordecide 2011 called. It wants its tagline back

[@AaronOfYell]

Two points: 1- Regardless of what I want to watch, I'm not paying for streaming. 2- What exactly are Sony getting out of this deal?

[@svensantesson2020]

Streaming is waaaaayyyyyyy cheaper 🫠

[@AaronOfYell]

@@svensantesson2020 I don't care

[@svensantesson2020]

@@AaronOfYell 🤑 Do you have Star Wars on Blu-ray?

[@jeremydrew1227]

​@@svensantesson2020eh not necessarily

[@svensantesson2020]

@@jeremydrew1227 Depends... But if you watch more than 3 Films a month, than its probably cheaper

[@HunterBoldingVideo]

I think Disney doesn't want to deal with the whole business of physical media, but they've shown that they're open to the idea with the Marvel and Star Wars 4K releases they did last year. Those have seemingly sold really well, so I think they'd rather have someone else do the work and they can just make the money. It would be better if they could just partner with someone like Arrow or Shout! Studios, but I'm a bit more cheery about the situation and Sony partnering with Disney on this.

[@PremierPrep]

I have 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea on BluRay that my wife found for me on my birthday a couple years ago. I had been searching for that movie on Bluray for YEARS and she finally found a Disney Club copy! I love having the copy but I HATE that it's so limited.

[@davivman6009]

I’ve placed a couple large orders with Disney Movie club in the last few days. Some of the exclusive Blu-rays are already selling out even though the official shutdown is 3 months away.

[@Tomhyde098]

Same here, I bought 15 exclusives on Tuesday

[@lostnthenoise]

If Sony is going to handle the production of discs, it will make it easier for these movies to be distributed to other nations.

[@ElliotCoen]

They’re only handling production within North America, according to the reports. Those discs can’t be sold in Europe

[@markpugh6808]

​@@ElliotCoenthey will be sold by scalpers on Ebay tho

[@craigwhitcher9629]

Until we actually see what happens no one really knows. It could be good but we don’t know. Disney’s staff handling physical media has been severely cut ever since Covid and it’s never recovered. Sony is still making must have discs. If Sony takes over the authoring, manufacturing and distribution it could be a good thing at least for US and Canada. We don’t know so let’s stop the doom and gloom until we see what happens. Maybe there’s a chance that some of those 20th Century titles might get a 4K release.

[@Murrhound]

So at no point here did you give any actual evidence for this being the case. You could be right, but what’s the point to this deal if they aren’t going to release movies?

[@davidalp6079]

I cannot believe its 2024 and we DO NOT have "The Sound Of Music" (1965) on 4K. Oh wait! Yeah, its a 20th Century Fox movie!!! So it SHALL NEVER see the light of HD...

[@xboxmods]

I’m a little more optimistic about what this means for future releases, but I’m guessing this means no additional Criterion releases of their films… Also between their own catalogue, Crunchyroll, and now Disney, it seems like Sony will be responsible for a huge percentage of all physical media production/distribution

[@Terry.W]

I fear for Disney they are in a tailspin at the moment..

[@MichaelYianni-sn3wm]

It sucks but unfortunately like the majority of companies that we all used to like regardless of weather it was a film company or anything else, the majority of them are now run by people who have acquired them through a sale & have no nostalgic connection to them. They are only in it for the money & they would destroy their products before selling them if they're was more money to be made doing so!

[@SamLovesMovies25]

Yeah, what I worry about the most with Disney Movie Club shutting down is the fate of the exclusives that were ONLY available on Blu Ray through DMC. I worry that those films will be shoved away to be forgotten and die...

[@TheGrimmy11]

Yeah when this new broke everyone was acting like Sony were going to get access to Dinseys vaults to release what they want but reading the statement it's clear its just Disney distancing themselves further from physical media, offloading the work to someone else while getting out completely is still leaving too much money on the table. The only saving grace/positive is if Sony have been given a guaranteed amount of titles to release to make it worth it for them to do the deal. Maybe forcing Disney's hand in to releasing more titles than it would have otherwise.

[@unachimba9]

Do you have a video on some of there Blu-rays from Disney you recommend? With all these companies they now own I'm not even sure which blu-rays are from them or not

[@villain7140]

Maybe I’m missing something but why are we so certain that Disney won’t be licensing anything important as part of the deal? And if they weren’t going to release them anyway, what difference does it make if Sony is now the one doing their physical media?

[@TroyUlysses]

Everyone thought it was the second coming when Disney did a deal with Millcreek. What happened to that?

[@oldaxehead655]

I dont understand how Sony releasing some movies for Disney vs Disney releasing none is worse. Sony has a very good 4K track record, and they have the stats on "what sells". I think and hope they will be able to pull some gems out of the catalog.

[@s.m.whiteII]

Disney does it again🙄

[@davidrowley-ic6dx]

Far as I can make out ... Something has been afoot for (at least) the past 6 months as there have been so many really low cost cut-price deals on Disney releases in the UK with both HMV and Zavvi. This smacks of stock being ditched onto the market. Then the news came about the Sony deal, which looked quite positive at first ... until the statements: (1) To cut operating costs, Disney were passing ALL manufacture, sales and distribution onto Sony and (2) This deal only supports release into the US/Canada markets. There is NO reference to any deal supporting release/sales/distribution to any other region/zone outside of N America. Following the withdrawal from Australia last year, it would appear to me that, as currently announced, there will be no further support to sales of Disney media to anywhere outside N America as of May/June of this year and the only means of access to Disney media will be via their streaming service (Disney+), unless you are able to import from a Region A zone. The implication is that there will be no future releases of Disney material in the UK and the existing catalogue will dry up and disappear. I wonder if this is reflected in the forthcoming (and much anticipated) release of Aliens (expected in the next month until recently) has suddenly gone arbitrarily to the end of the year. Is this actually still going to happen in the UK?? Personally, I think Disney are simply desperate to make Disney+ show a $$ return and are closing off any alternative means of access to their media. Icing on the cake, I believe the cost of Disney+ is also being jacked up over the coming months.

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

These were my thoughts when I saw the delay earlier. I hope it's not the case. But it's up to them. I'm never going to subscribe to Disney+. I've said it elsewhere in this thread, they can have my money or abandon me as a customer. But I'm not going to subscribe to ever increasing costly streaming platforms, with forced adverts. They can have my money for physical product or I'll pirate instead.

[@spartan2188]

I disagree. I think this is good news. Disney stinks and Sony is great. If Sony does the work, then we'll get far better quality than whatever Disney does.

[@YTLawnGnome]

See the thing that these companies don't realize is that if they make physical releases they will make more money. They can keep driving towards streaming but, at this point people are showing less interest and more frustration towards streaming. Streaming is going to fail as far as I can tell. It's just cable TV right now which I said it would become the minute all the companies started creating their own streaming services.

[@user-mb9lh7ob5v]

This shouldn't happen Disney should instead acquire Alliance Entertainment so Disney can instead carry over all by themselves Mill Creek Entertainment and N Circle Entertainment's home entertainment all by themselves as soon as possible 🤞

[@Zeldaboy2k2]

In the article it says Sony will release new and catalog titles, so I’m hopeful. Plus Sony 4K’s are awesome! So we’ll see.

[@luckdragongirl]

I have mostly all the Disney movies I want on DVD or blu-ray, and they haven't made anything good in years. Maybe I'll seek out some of the old live actions from when Walt was alive. That's about all I need.

[@dylan.t180]

As someone who's been trying to buy the 4k version of elemental as soon as it came out I can only hope it will get a wider release and more availability than trying to grab one off eBay?

[@poissonmechant]

Last summer the head of Disney France/Benelux said in an interview that a third party company would manage the UK distribution from October 2023 onwards. I don't know if it's already happened and nobody cared enough to announce it, or if it's been postponed.

[@davidrowley-ic6dx]

Now that COULD be good news !!

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

Hopefully you're right.

[@thischannelisdeleted]

This is GREAT news

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

How so.

[@thischannelisdeleted]

@@LarryFleetwood8675 Disney hates physical media and Sony does GREAT work.

[@jonathannoble9465]

Has Sony done any kind of press release talking about this? I’d really like to hear what they have to say about this.

[@ElliotCoen]

I don’t think the have yet. I’m hoping to find out more too. I’d love to hear that they are increasing the number of releases.

[@g3ckoizlethal]

So, i know nothing has been confirmed, but I'm wondering if all or some of the Disney Movie Club titles will be available to the general public in some form. Obviously, they arent allowing people to join DMC, so i had to look for Flight of the Navigator, and Mighty Joe Young on blu ray from other sites...im hoping Sony can re-release those or even do 4K versions of those

[@guguginindza2576]

What I truly loved about Disney physically media is that the blu rays are Region free…making it easier to purchase especially when wanting to buy special editions of Blu rays….in South Africa we don’t get physical media sold at all anymore and we would buy online…I hope that with the Sony distribution deal they will maintain making their Blu rays region free

[@KarimKhan-ys8oc]

Fun fact: Sony stopped all physical releases in Germany and Plainon is taking over here. It sucks but that’s what the majority of viewers want.

[@CB-mb8yj]

Could this explain why the Aliens 4K disc is no longer being released in the UK in April?

[@dorothytheuyfanatic5118]

To be honest, I do get the feeling that this was in response to how bad the company did financially in 2023, but still, it’s very concerning. Besides, streaming isn’t what the entertainment industry is about anyway. Causals may start buying physical media again if they think streaming is too much for them.

[@matthewbelcher5389]

I have to disagree, with the finnacial issues Disney and Marvel have I think we will see more released. I mean they released Loki, Wandavision on blu ray and they were Disney Plus exclusive.

[@JacobFrey]

Eh, I think this is good news. You don't seem to offer any proof that it's going towards "worse". When Kino Lorber releases a Universal Pictures film, it's because of this VERY type of agreement. We get a release that Universal was unwilling to put the money into - but they get a cut of it when Kino does it for them.

[@ElliotCoen]

You’ve slightly misunderstood the news if you think that situation is the same. Kino license the film from Universal, they create and collate the assets, from artwork, special features. Kino’s brand is front and centre on those discs. In this situation, Sony does not have access to Disney’s catalogue of film licenses. Disney still designs the product, while Sony handles the manufacturing and distribution. Disney’s branding will remain. You’re not going to see The Lion King with a big Sony logo on the case. As for proof of it getting worse, you’re right. I’m only speculating but just look at Disney’s approach to the physical side of things. If it were about to get better around the corner, they’d be keeping this in house. This is classic divestment of strategy at a corporate level.

[@davidbriones7134]

I don't see the Disney situation going from bad to worse. Disney has shown no love to the physical media community in the last couple years. Sony on the other hand has always been physical media friendly. Sony has always been the best studio in having the best a/v presentation on disc. They understand the current state of physical media. Disney did the right thing to pass it to Sony. Unfortunately for Disney they see physical media as niche. Why keep a physical media division for such small profits. I welcome the change and finally see some light at the end of the tunnel for Disney.

[@shadowAOD]

Still waiting on the ducktakles 1987 and gummi bears blu ray, chip and dale bluray was already released so I see no reason not to do it.

[@444chroma]

We know Disney has not had a great track record with physical media lately. The 4k restorations for Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are fantastic though so credit due there! At least this way whatever they decide is worthy of release will be authored by Sony.

[@letstalkcriterion]

Disney is losing subscribers to Disney Plus, so I think they may in the next year or so about turn on this. Putting distribution to Sony may not mean the market floods with catalogue titles we will have to see, but it may mean some already mastered fox titles will start trickling through. What they are doing is similar to what Paramount did with Kino a few years back and what Universal is doing with second sight and Arrow.

[@SeanPatrickRotary720]

Physical media is king and it’s not going away anytime soon period

[@m.dorado6966]

I'm not in the pessimistic camp about the partnership. Why did Disney purchase Fox's movie catalog if they had no plans to do anything with them?

[@ElliotCoen]

That’s simple enough right? They wanted The Simpsons, the Fox Marvel properties, every other valuable Fox property. They weren’t buying Fox for their back catalogue of films necessarily - it was just a bonus

[@m.dorado6966]

@ElliotCoen The Twentieth Century Fox titles are one hell of a bonus. I would take them over Columbia Pictures any day.

[@Mowglibaloo2]

They bought them to pad their streaming service and corner the market. Hasn't been profitable but time will tell.

[@richarddexter7641]

For me, it's simple. Cancel Disney+.

[@actualnotanewbie]

Why would Disney give distribution to Sony if the goal is to get rid of physical media distribution? I see this as Disney letting Sony produce what they don't feel like making anymore.

[@ElliotCoen]

I guarantee Sony has no say in what does or doesn’t get released from the Disney catalogue. The nature of the relationship will be: Disney creates the assets for disc, Sony masters a final disc, they print and distribute. As for why they do this - Disney won’t want to shut down physical media completely today. There’s still money to be made from certain titles (the big ones). Their final disc release could be many many years away, but this is the start of winding down operations. They aren’t keeping it in house because they want (and need) to run a tighter ship, focusing on their main distribution platform (Disney+)

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

​@ElliotCoen I sense that there's always going to be money on the table. Streaming isn't the golden goose, and there will be a future for discs. I expect that the market will stabilise and see a resurgence in the coming years. Things are darkest before the light. Time to believe and forget the gloom.

[@actualnotanewbie]

@@ElliotCoen That makes sense. Well, I guess the only way to keep them from shutting down physical media production is to buy their new discs!

[@nabilleal2315]

This is amazing news if its done right...

[@Beetleejuicee]

So let disney do all that and let them go into the ground. Then another studio will scoop up all their films for dust bunnies on the dollar

[@chrisburns7979]

you say that however the fact that they are relasing The streaming shows on 4k blu ray

[@Mowglibaloo2]

More concerned about catalogue titles. Could care less about Disney streaming shows.

[@181andbeyond]

I think a lot of people are being as extreme on the optimism as you are being on the pessimistic side of it, and personally, i think you're likely all off base and what happens will loom somewhere in the middle. But we won't know until we know and everything up to that point is nothing more than speculation.

[@zenquantum1246]

Disney Movie Club is no longer taking new members. I’m not a die-hard Disney fan, so I never signed up. However, knowing that things are shutting down made me want to see if there’s anything in their catalog that I wanted. Going to have to find a friend who is already a member who can help me out

[@PillowEgg]

Make sense since BluRay is a Sony technology. Let Sony manufacture the BluRay discs for the Sony BluRay technology.

[@lostnthenoise]

If Sony made this deal, it has to be profitable for them. If they knew that Disney was winding down their physical media, why would they take on the costs of producing movies? I think you're being a little pessimistic.

[@ElliotCoen]

It’s simple economies of scale. Sony gets to press millions of more discs a year because of this deal. Most of the cost of creating each disc product is front loaded by Disney. Sony is investing no creative capital, there’s very little risk for Sony. It’s a no brainer of a business move for them. I’m not being pessimistic, it’s realistic. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong if this does suddenly lead to the Disney vaults opening.

[@VFGMovieReviews]

I assume you missed the part where they are not prioritizing Disney+ anymore. They already have Disney+ on path to be profitable by the end of this year or the middle of next year they’re actually prioritizing theatrical runs. And if another company is handling their physical media, then yes they are going to have input in hay. We should put this out. We should put this out. They’re going to have access to the complete library. I think you’re just living in a little bit of fear, that isn’t there.

[@Mowglibaloo2]

Disney's track record leaves a lot to be desired

[@VFGMovieReviews]

@@Mowglibaloo2 man Disney has one bad year and they have a horrible track record right come on give it a rest

[@Mowglibaloo2]

​@@VFGMovieReviewsone bad year? LOL😅

[@VFGMovieReviews]

@@Mowglibaloo2 yes, one bad year you can’t add in the pandemic because that was bad for everybody so show me something before the pandemic showing they were having a bad year

[@BlueMarsalis]

Bro... i just want Alien³

[@timtalkstalkies]

Really great video. I agreed with so much here. This news was so vague that I wasn’t going to get excited for potential Fox and Touchstone stuff. They say catalogue releases which can just mean a 50th release of Beauty and the Beast. And totally agree on Poor Things.

[@windsonma8209]

I'm really Distressed about this News as I'm a big Supporter of Physical Media and Disney has done in terms of Movies and Shows Projects some of the things that Disney has done that I Personally Like and Every one doesn't are. 1= Live Action Mulan, 2= Iron Man 2, And 3= Captain Marvel, 4= Live Action Little Mermaid. And the like etc, and for me again in Personal Opinion I've always say this Physcial Media has the advantage of once when you Buy it it's Yours Forever just as long as you have a Device that Plays it. Not So Much With Digital Streaming and once again Personally there is just something really Satisfying and Rewarding for when ever I Hear and Pry those Cases Opening I just like the Popping Sound, and like wise when closing it I just like that Cracking Sound. And finally I feel that some Physical Media Not Only has Gorgeous Cover Arts Both Front Back and some times Spins, but also and more importantly some of them come with various number of Special Features such as BTS Bloopers and Deleted Extented and Alternate Scenes just to name a few Common ones. And I Guess I should also mention with Physical Media I'm onlyPaying for what I care for, unlike with Difital Streaming I'm Also Paying for Movies and Shows that I Don't Really Care for Via a Subscription Package.

[@Lostcyborg]

WWE did the same thing this year. WWF/WWE home video and Silvervision in Europe and the uk. All because imo peacock wanted people going to their app instead of popping in a disc.

[@MichaelYianni-sn3wm]

They ended their partnership with silvervison years ago and partnered up with Freemantle media. But your point is still valid.

[@timneath8727]

I was one of the more optimistic people about this news. However in the UK we experienced a crappy service from Sony pictures distributing Criterion so things could get worse in US/Canada. I think Elliott's sadly right, its a contract to print extra discs. Since Disney purchased Fox its withheld all the classics (with a very very small exceptions) that are family friendly or broadly still known to the general public. For us film fans we know there's far far more that slowly being withdrawn from circulation. The times I've seen posts saying licences are expiring from Eureka, indicator etc it frustrates me because there's money to be made (yes im preaching to the converted here) yet Disney for whatever reason don't want to capitalise on this gold mine of a catalogue. We should have seen it coming when they began refuse repertory cinemas prints of films. Id really like to know the reasons behind their decision making. Yes buy up what you can and keep it. Probably old DVD and Blu ray. Besides TV airings of the films this will be the only way to view the hidden classics. Either that or someone offer a few billion to buy back Fox (not 20th Century - that name was forgotten since it merged with Fox in the mid 30s)

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

Disney+ is a sunk cost fallacy at this point. They've gone all in and now it's time to squeeze the market into submission. I hope it fails spectacularly.

[@vinylspotter]

I think you are wrong here is why, Disney released Heat a Fox tittle that was done so poorly, and many other of their 4K transfers were not great apart from their flagship studio brands. Then they seemed to be slowing down if not winding down their physical media but then after more flops due to their own Woke-isms many people on KZbin won’t acknowledge, they turned around and released a ton of stuff Prey on 4k, The Mandolorian on steel books , along with Loki and the price outta the gate was not cheap. I just think they want better people that offer a more polished 4k process. Cause the DEI (diversity hires) doing the discs at Disney are failing. Other physical media channels are getting positive info on Disney new physical media directions. Also the 2nd version of the Avatar films a complete new restore from the 1st release fixing the mistakes. Sony is doing well with 4k tittles like Rudy , The Raid Redemption & lot of their other films have all been celebrated on their quality. This might even be that Disney might be greening the wheel for Sony to buy their Fox movie catalog minus some franchises. Which is really all Disney wanted.

[@andrae2886]

I respectfully disagree with your doom and gloom take regarding this agreement. You actually answered your own hypothetical rejection of the possibility of increased physical media output of Disney movies by Sony. Disney’s bureaucracy is the main reason why they can’t do it themselves effectively even if they wanted to. And between the two, Sony always puts out the superior product in terms of physical media. (The Columbia Classics line for example…..) However on a more basic level, why would Sony agree to this deal if they are going to be prevented from releasing anything ? That makes no sense. Sony has to believe that this is a good deal for them. And continuing the Disney strategy of sitting on everything would not be a good business decision for Sony. To back up my belief, refer to the current update from Digital Bits article on this topic. The Omen is going to be rereleased into theaters this year and I’m confident a brand new 4K UHD release will follow (Ala the original Avatar , Godfather Coda, The Star Trek Movie etc ) And how long have we all been waiting for that. Do I believe that Sony can now release everything from the 20th Century catalog at will ? No, but I do believe some titles will see the light of day finally. Compared to Disney’s strategy of releasing nothing, the release of some titles will be a definite improvement.

[@ElliotCoen]

Sony would agree to any deal that lets them print and ship more discs at scale of hundreds of thousands, or even millions. Even just a couple of Marvel movies per year makes that incredibly lucrative for them. They aren’t doing this because Sony is getting some new access to the Disney vault. Also, you’ve misread the update. It’s the film The First Omen that is getting a release, which is a brand new 2024 film. Not the classic film The Omen. There is no evidence at this point that this new deal is going to give us 1 release of a classic film that we wouldn’t have been getting otherwise.

[@andrae2886]

@@ElliotCoen Agree that there is still a lucrative revenue stream available with physical media that Disney very foolishly walked away from. However those profits are continuing to diminish and I still contend some new catalog titles will be released as part of this deal. Both Marvel, Lucas Films, Pixar and Disney films are in a serious decline right now. So to expect tremendous physical media sales of various box office bombs (which can simply be watch on streaming) or the re-release of already existing titles does not seem like a great strategy to me. Thanks for the Omen clarification (bummer...because I was really looking forward to that...) However, I think all of this comes down to how you are interpreting this statement from the update: "As part of this deal, Sony will market, sell, and distribute new Disney releases plus CATALOG titles on physical media" To me this mean some items in the Disney vault may finally see the light of day. However only time will tell who is right and who is wrong. Cheers!

[@DamageInc-nx9gu]

Who cares about them sinking the physical media business. They don’t care about physical, that’s the truth. I own all of the Fox titles anyway, so I really couldn’t care less about this. Disney is heavily banking on Disney+. Personally, I haven’t bought any Disney 4K/ blu-rays in years. We all knew this was coming. Hopefully, Sony will do a better job with this, but if they don’t, would are you gonna about it, sit and bitch about it, more likely yes.

[@ElliotCoen]

How do you own ALL of the Fox titles when many of them have never had a physical media release?

[@markpugh6808]

​@@ElliotCoenProbably has bootleg copies of the ones not released

[@ClintEastwood74]

Just release THE BLACK HOLE and I’ll be happy 😊

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

I still have my old VHS and DVD of it...

[@brunomachado7279]

I didn't get the big fuss about it.

[@markchadwick636]

But what about disney bringing out the mandalorians seqson 1 and 2 and wandavision andloki is all that gonna stop

[@TTD94]

I had a sneaking suspicion that the Blu-ray/4K steelbooks of the Disney+ shows weren’t selling that well. I hope to be wrong and I hope that we get more releases of streaming exclusive titles in the future, though.

[@craigwhitcher9629]

It was kind of dumb to release shows that everyone still has access to on D+. Did they expect to sell them to the general consumer as well as collectors? It’s almost like they set it up intentionally to get results they wanted to justify the end of disc releases.

[@capkingy]

This is sad news. I am glad I bought all the Star Wars 4K disks already.

[@jonathannoble9465]

I bet Sony will do rereleases

[@Mowglibaloo2]

Minus the sequel trilogy hahaha

[@capkingy]

I even bought the prequels and sequels just to complete the set.

[@Jimmie_Rudolfsson]

You have it all totally wrong.

[@ElliotCoen]

Totally wrong? Bit hyperbolic!

[@luisdomenech539]

You're needlessly spreading misinformation. This news just broke and already people are jumping to all kinds of conclusions. Disney WANTS to re-enter the physical media market and this is how they're doing it. Disney CEO Bob Iger alluded to this last year. You must've missed the Madalorian sets in 4K, Prey, Loki, Snow White, etc. You have plenty of followers so it's your duty to NOT speak definitively about a subject you know next to nothing about. It's going to be a great year for physical media.

[@ElliotCoen]

Is this Bob Iger’s burner account? 🤭 I’m merely giving my opinion and speculating on the news. I’m not suggesting I know the future as fact. Of course I didn’t miss those releases - I own them! I don’t get your point there. This channel isn’t a public service by the way, so you’re wrong about what is my duty. I can speak on any subject I want, no matter what I may or may not know. Thanks for watching my video and for commenting!

[@markpugh6808]

Lets see if Barbarian etc finally get given the physical treatment if Disney want to totally get back into physical media

[@Beefers26]

A worrying trend indeed. Seems like the only Disney/Pixar film to make it to Criterion for a physical release has been Wall-E. Hopefully, others might be released that way too.

[@iCocaColaZombieGod]

I like your views on this

[@kdkseven]

Disney turns everything to sh*t.

[@mattcavanough]

Pay per view, here we come. Disney sucks.

[@Nova-fh2et]

Maybe with that attitude

[@mattcavanough]

@Nova-fh2et LOL how would anyone's attitude change Disney's actions? They've already removed physical media from multiple countries. What do you think they're gonna do next? 🤣

[@Nova-fh2et]

@@mattcavanough you're going to will it into existence with that attitude. Just relax and don't have such a dystopian mindset. Enjoy the movies you love in the format you have