There are disturbing trends surrounding Disney and its efforts to make physical media obsolete.This was recently selected as a Best Buy announced The plan is to stop selling physical media in stores.
As you know, a few years ago, Disney acquired Fox. They now also own the sales department. This meant that they also ended up owning the likes of independent film distributor Fox Searchlight, which they apparently renamed Searchlight.
Now, next news Searchlight’s latest film, Andrew Haig’s All of Us Strangers, will not be released on physical media. There have been several other titles in recent years that have suffered the same fate as “Strangers.”
As an example, Searchlight’s “The Barbarian,” an indie horror film that cost $4.5 million to make and grossed $45 million at the box office, received critical acclaim and gained a huge cult following. In early 2023, Disney/Searchlight sent out a press release with a digital release date, but no mention of a physical release. Based on my own experience, this type of press release almost always provides a digital date and a physical date. Not so with “Barbarian.”
It’s been about two years since “Barbarian” was released in theaters, but there’s still no word about a Blu-ray disc release. Have we finally reached the point where we have to accept the fact that we may not be able to get all the movies we want on physical media? Collectors, you have been warned.
This is quite alarming considering that horror movie fans are major supporters of physical media. They are collectors. They go out of their way to own their most cherished movies. That’s why there are so many underground horror labels, and why it’s such a lucrative business.
Disney has been steadily moving away from physical media over the past few years, but the moves for “The Strangers” and “Barbarian” are certainly its biggest steps yet. It is clear that they are encouraging their audience to go digital. It’s all about enhancing your subscription to Disney Plus.
However, Disney is not alone. As you know, Netflix does not offer physical media for any of its movies. Unless Criterion comes to the rescue with “Rome,” “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story” and “Power of the Dog.” ” Netflix’s major titles don’t yet have physical media, including “Glass Onion,” “Dolemite is My Name,” and “Triple Frontier.”
Meanwhile, Apple’s “Coda” is the only Best Picture Oscar winner not available on physical media. With far fewer people subscribing to Apple TV than Netflix, it could very well be the lowest-rated Best Picture winner of this century.
