Disney to License Several High-Profile Titles to Netflix

Quick Take

• Two of the fiercest competitors in the streaming world have found a way to work together. Disney+ will soon start licensing several well-known titles to Netflix.
• Among the titles licensed will be all five Ice Age movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and several classic TV shows like Arrested Development.
• Nerdist’s take: Despite being each other’s biggest competition in the streaming world, this news proves that anyone in entertainment can call a truce if it means making more money.

Two of the biggest competitors, if not the biggest competitors, in the world of streaming are Netflix and Disney+. But competitors or not, they can bury a hatchet if they can make some coin. Variety is reporting that Disney has made a deal with Netflix to license a metric ton of its titles to them, and some of these are very well-known properties associated with the House of Mouse. This includes all five Ice Age movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Pixar titles like Elio and Soul, and catalog series from the Disney vaults like Felicity, Arrested Development, and Scandal.

Disney+/Netflix

As the original report states, Netflix has an unrivaled subscriber base of 325 million households. That is almost the equivalent of every person in the United States. Disney sees this as a chance to get its films and television series in front of a lot more eyeballs. And as a strategy, it makes sense. If people fall in love with the Pixar films they watch on Netflix, for example, they might want even more Pixar in their diet and get a Disney+ subscription. Disney makes money from Netflix, and Netflix gets to add to its already massive catalog of titles. At least, temporarily. Most of these Disney titles have a shelf life on the streaming giant.

Nerdist’s Take: Even Between the Fiercest Competitors, Money Talks, and Always Trumps Anything Else

The availability of these titles will vary from region to region. We imagine North America won’t get some of the bigger titles, which will remain as Disney+ exclusives. Especially titles from some of their bigger IP, like Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. From what we can tell, there are no Marvel Studios or Star Wars titles in this batch, but that could always change in the future. After all, in Hollywood, money talks very loudly. And if they can turn a profit from those films finding a home on Netflix, it’ll happen. We expect the rollout for Disney titles on Netflix to start happening over the next few months.

Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a Swiss Army knife of fandoms. Eric loves DC, Marvel, horror movies, and even Star Wars and Star Trek equally.

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