There has been a disturbing trend when it comes to Disney and their push to make physical media go obsolete. This comes as Best Buy recently announced that they would stop selling physical media in their stores.
As you know, a few years ago, Disney purchased Fox. They now own the distribution arm as well. This means they also ended up owning, among others, indie film distributor Fox Searchlight, which they plainly renamed Searchlight.
Now comes the news that the latest Searchlight film, Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers,” will not be released on physical media. In recent years, there have been a handful of other titles given the same fate as ‘Strangers.’
An example, Searchlight’s “Barbarian,” an indie horror film that was made for $4.5 million and grossed $45 million, garnered great reviews and has developed a major cult following. In early 2023, Disney/Searchlight sent a press release with a digital release date, but there was no mention of a physical release. Based on my own experiences, these types of press releases almost always give you digital AND physical dates. Not with “Barbarian.”
Its been almost two years since the theatrical release of “Barbarian” and still not a word about a blu-ray disc release. Have we finally reached the point where we need to accept the fact that we might not be getting all the movies we want on physical media? Collectors, you’ve been warned.
This is very concerning given that horror movie fans are major advocates for physical media. They are collectors. They go out of their way to own their most treasured movies. That’s why there’s a slew of horror underground labels that exist, it’s a profitable business.
Disney has been steadily pushing physical media out of the way for a few years now, but the ‘Strangers’ and ‘Barbarian’ moves are certainly the biggest steps they've made so far. It’s quite clear that they are pushing for audiences to go digital — it’s all about subscription boosts to Disney Plus.
However, it’s not just Disney. As you know, Netflix doesn’t give physical media to any of its films — unless Criterion comes in to save the day like they did with “Roma,” “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story” and “The Power of the Dog.” Key Netflix titles still missing on physical media include “Glass Onion,” “Dolemite is My Name,” and “Triple Frontier.”
Meanwhile, Apple’s “Coda” is still the only Oscar Best Picture winner that you can’t get on physical media. Far fewer people subscribe to Apple TV than they do Netflix, which means that it could very well be the least seen Best Picture winner of the current century.