Disney+ has removed the Avatar movie from its catalog. The goal is purely promotional: the blockbuster will come out in dark rooms, a few weeks before the release of the second opus.
Do not search anymore Avatar on the Disney+ platform: James Cameron’s cult blockbuster has disappeared from the SVOD service, Disney+ News said in a tweet posted on August 17. The reason is simple: a new version of the film will soon be released in cinemas (September 21), in anticipation of the release ofAvatar: The Way of the Water (December 14).
By withdrawing — temporarily — Avatar from Disney+, Disney encourages fans to go to the cinema to (re)discover the feature film. The objective is of course to earn as much money as possible: those concerned will have to pay a ticket to watch the film, when they may already have a subscription to Disney +. For the multinational, the capitalist logic is implacable (no risk of cannibalization), but it is difficult not to see capitalist opportunism in it.
Whether we like it or not, Disney does what it wants with its SVOD platform
To date, Avatar grossed $2.8 billion, according to figures from Box Office Mojo, making it the biggest hit of all time (ahead of Avengers: Endgame and its $2.79 billion). James Cameron’s film, which dates from 2009, really does not need a new theatrical release to be profitable. Disney nevertheless believes that spectators will choose to see the film again on the big screen (a beautiful setting for a feature film of this scale, it must be admitted) and certainly hopes to cross the 3 billion mark – which would be a great first in the history of cinema.
It is, in any case, a bad signal sent to those who have subscribed to Disney + in order to be able to (re) see all the classics belonging to Disney.
However, this event provides an opportunity to recall that the company is free to do what it wants with its own content. For example, she can:
- Offer them directly on Disney+;
- Add premium access to Disney+ (as was the case for Black Widowat least in some countries);
- Remove/return them from Disney+ as they see fit (provided they follow the media timeline);
- Opt for a cinema outing.
All these levers represent risks for subscribers, who can see films or series they love disappear overnight – without certainty that they will come back. For example, in the near future, Disney could decide to bring out The Lion King in the cinema and make it disappear from Disney+, without us being able to do anything about it (we can always cancel).
Obviously, Disney + is not the only service to develop positively – or negatively – its catalog. The competition – Amazon Prime Video, Netflix … – does it too, like the equivalents in gaming (Xbox Game Pass loses video games every month). There is a bias in streaming consumption: you should never get attached to the content, nor believe that everything is eternally acquired. If you really like a movie, buy it and don’t trust SVOD… where nothing belongs to us.
