Disney shelving Live Action UHD Catalog Titles (besides new films)

[spanky87]

I’m sure HDMI ports will be on TVs and receivers for the foreseeable future.

[Panther73]

There was talk that Sony was seriously considering making the PS5 all digital.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Which means phuck all to me as they're so expensive to snag (for an importer) I'd rather put that money towards stuff that deserves such an outlay.

I always thought we were naive in complaining about the spines of the Disney Classics all those years ago! Guess what, folks? You don't have to worry about Disney screwing up their physical media when there isn't any!

I'd love things like The Black Hole on disc, but why chase after one doomed relationship when there's plenty of studios still willing to abuse us?

Grinds my gears that some of us are enabling the bastards with D+ subscriptions, which is already probably has several Machiavellian ways to screw its customers over ....

[Schism213]

Originally Posted by Panther73

There was talk that Sony was seriously considering making the PS5 all digital.

Both systems will offer a disc version and a discless digital only option. If digital only goes 70% to the discs 30%, that will be the biggest sign to me.

[Panther73]

I know that the Xbox One Digital Only didn’t sell well at all. I went to a local Best Buy before the pandemic and saw quite a few digital only consoles in the store, and the disc based Xbox’s were not available.

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by Panther73

Why is such a surprise to any of you. The future of home entertainment isn’t the physical format. If this turns out to be true, it’s not a total shock. Physical media had its run and this is what we feared would happen. Disney+ is the future of home entertainment, and that’s a cold hard fact. Remember that this is a rumor, but more likely it’s gonna happen, and there’s little hope that Disney will continue to release anything on 4K UltraHD and Blu-ray. I’ll continue to subscribe to Disney+, because of “The Mandalorian” and that’s the ONLY reason why I have their streaming service.

I don't think it's so much a surprise as disappointment when the other studios have managed to keep things alive for enthusiasts.

I keep a Netflix subscription, and Netflix only, for:
- Sharing it with a bunch of family members.
- Watching the rare quality show like Stranger Things or The Dark Crystal.
- But mostly watching mediocre or throwaway fluff or documentaries in the background, for example when doing chores or recently working from home.

And that's streaming/digital for me: watching stuff I don't really care that much about somewhat on the side. I never use it for "real", focused watching of movies if I can help it. Until they can match the quality of discs, at a significantly reduced price to offset all the negatives that come with it, I will not pay for any streaming or digital copies of movies, and won't feel the least bit bad for side-stepping a gazillion dollar corporation as long as they offer no reasonable option. Though in cases like The Mandalorian, which I'd like to watch at some point, I will probably just use a trial/discount subscription month when Disney+ eventually gets here, which is what I did with Too Old to Die Young.

[Schism213]

Originally Posted by Panther73

I do that the Xbox One Digital Only didn’t seem well at all. I went to a local Best Buy before the pandemic and saw quite a few digital only consoles in the store, and the disc based Xbox’s were not available.

Microsoft stopped production on all consoles except the digital S in prep for the new system release. This was a few months later but I'd imagine they were ramping down and then the $199 & $299 fire sales when this all started.

[spanky87]

Originally Posted by garyd97

I hate to say it , but any member who is subscribed to Disney + is part of the problem.

It wouldn’t make much of a dent if every physical media enthusiast abstained from Disney+ anyway. They’ve already managed to obtain 60.5 million subscribers in 9 months.

I acquiesced since I knew their streaming dominance was inevitable.

[Schism213]

Originally Posted by spanky87

It wouldn’t make much of a dent if every physical media enthusiast abstained from Disney+ anyway. They’ve already managed to obtain 60.5 million subscribers in 9 months.

I acquiesced since I knew their streaming dominance was inevitable.

The got $7 from me, price of a movie ticket, for Mando. I was out after that.

[Panther73]

So you would deny a show on Disney+ because it’s ONLY available digitally?

[AKORIS]

so I'm forgetting the situation on Bond films... are they owned by Sony.. or from Fox (Disney)?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

so I'm forgetting the situation on Bond films... are they owned by Sony.. or from Fox (Disney)?

The new one is through MGM and Universal, I don't think FOX had anything to do with Bond apart from their deal to distribute MGM's home video releases. Sony's contract has expired.

[garyd97]

Originally Posted by spanky87

It wouldn’t make much of a dent if every physical media enthusiast abstained from Disney+ anyway. They’ve already managed to obtain 60.5 million subscribers in 9 months.

I acquiesced since I knew their streaming dominance was inevitable.

Every subscription helps feed their greed. I couldn't do it on principal alone, myself. I also don't believe any subscription numbers that come from them, and yes I know it is a large number of people.

[happydood]

I have Disney Plus because my 6 and 9 year olds love it. Therein lies the value. I still buy way too many discs and both kids regard watching a movie on disc on movie nights as a more special experience because they look better and we treat it as an event.

Folks are right to say that discs are going away but for me that means that where things are going is where my music collection went: into storage and also onto a digital platform where I can retain the full quality, always have a back-up, and never be bothered with people checking out what I'm listening to and tailoring ads to what they gauge as my tastes. Media servers seem to be getting more proficient and more economical every day. Buying discs from the few boutique labels and putting them on one seems like a reasonable compromise to me. And to equate it even more closely to music: sites like HD Tracks have music in higher quality than a disc can provide, have loads of catalog titles, and you do own them permanently provided you back them up and are willing to live with a digital file. I imagine boutique labels will do the same for movies when discs finally do go away.

[happydood]

Originally Posted by Panther73

So you would deny a show on Disney+ because it’s ONLY available digitally?

I'm as hardcore a Star Wars fan as they come and I thought The Mandalorian was ... ok. I wouldn't deny it due to it being only available digitally but I do think it feels less special than one of the movies- and that may have more to do with it's short, serialized form. I know how much folks love The Clone Wars and Rebels and I think they're fine, but short form Star Wars feels kinda disposable to me. (The sequel trilogy is another matter, but I only mention that in passing. )

But, come to think of it, when the kids watch older Disney stuff- my son loves Mickey Mouse at the moment- that also feels pretty disposable to me. And truthfully there's so much stuff on Disney Plus it kinda feels like thumbing through a catalogue full of page after page of local coupons I got in the mail.

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by Schism213

Both systems will offer a disc version and a discless digital only option. If digital only goes 70% to the discs 30%, that will be the biggest sign to me.

Strangely enough, despite the masses no longer caring much about physical copies when it comes to movies, most polls I've seen on this have still been heavily skewed in favor of the physical copy/disc drive consoles, probably around 70/30 actually.

However speaking as someone who has since long gone over to a digital game library and will probably get the PS5 Digital Edition, with digital games there are two key aspects the movie industry has not been able to solve: a solid, future-protected (few things are proof), mostly unified platform and no difference in the actual data between the physical/digital copies.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Alwayshappy

Does this mean they also won't be releasing their Disney live action movies on 4k disc? Like the new Mulan. Or will they just focus on animations, Marvel and Star Wars? I do assume Disney classics won't be getting 4k releases either (besides the ones already made like Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin).

Not a good sign for physical media. I do use Disney+, but only ''on top of it''. Sometimes it's easier to turn on Disney+. Pirates and the Caribbean are 4k on Disney+, while they never released them on disc. Sadly that will never happen I suppose.

They MAY release new stuff, but not their back catalog from Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, and Fox Studios.


If Mulan's pay wall is a success, you probably will see other titles with an additional fee to "own" where you only get access if you keep paying The Mouse a monthly toll for the privilege.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If Mulan's pay wall is a success, you probably will see other titles with an additional fee to "own" where you only get access if you keep paying The Mouse a monthly toll for the privilege.

Which is their ultimate goal. The consumer never owns a movie.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by Panther73

I’m not advising nobody to grow up, I simply stated that there’s more things in this world be upset about.

...But you do realize that this is a place SPECIFICALLY to discuss these things, right? So spare us the holier-than-thou "first-world-problems" speech.

Besides, anyone claiming they know for certain what Disney is gonna do going forward, given their current financial troubles, is talking out of their ass. If you enjoy low bit-rate Muppet Baby SW rehashes, then be my guest. But ease up on the crystal ball talk. There were a lot of things that seemed certain 5 months ago. Right now, nobody knows shit for certain.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

If Mulan's pay wall is a success, you probably will see other titles with an additional fee to "own" where you only get access if you keep paying The Mouse a monthly toll for the privilege.

That is probably the basis for this whole rumor, you know, according to my sources. Already seen several people associate this with the success of 4K streaming of content on Disney +, but did you guys ever consider that we had a long disruption because of the pandemic this year and so the media releases might be lagging, and all it takes is someone using that as a basis for no 4K releases coming for awhile, and taking it further and saying Disney live action released on 4K is not happening any more. Someone got to be laughing right now as this silly rumor is spread around.