There doesn’t appear to be an end in sight regarding the recent splurging of The Walt Disney Company. With the amalgamation between itself and 21st Century Fox all but official, Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has shifted his all-encompassing gaze onto bringing each and every MCU installment home in order to proffer them as part of the extensive back catalogue which will debut with the presently unnamed Disney streaming service. Unfortunately, however, another high profile intellectual property – Star Wars – will not be along for the ride.
After voting to return Deadpool, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to their rightful owner, late last week it was revealed The Walt Disney Company made a “preliminary inquiry” to Turner Broadcasting in hopes of retrieving the rights to televise Lucasfilm’s multi-billion dollar franchise. Apparently, the House of Mouse was met with resistance, and, at least for now, will have to make due without it.
While speaking to investors about the service, Iger stated:
“The marketing will make clear that it’s not going to be on there. But Star Wars movies that come out in 2019 and later, you’ll find them there.”
So, for those of us dreaming of binging the entirety of the beloved franchise – save for The Last Jedi, obviously – we’ll merely have to look elsewhere. At least until 2024, when the contract between the Mouse House and the AT&T subdivision expires or Disney’s willing to part with financial compensation and replacement content, should Turner choose to sell.
That said, Iger’s confident the service will offer a compelling value to the core Disney fan as it attempts to get a firm footing in the streaming racket:
“Our first priority is going to be reaching our core Disney fan. We want to walk before we run when it comes to volume of content… We have to put enough on to make sense from a price-to-value relationship perspective.”
Considering that the likes of Dumbo, Captain Marvel, and Avengers 4 will help get the streaming network off to a strong start, I don’t think it’ll suffer from the lack of Star Wars too much at the beginning, and should be able to hold fans at bay with diverse Disney content, including the upcoming live-action Star Wars series from Jon Favreau.