Disney Confirms:  Star Wars and Marvel to be Pulled from Netflix

We reported last month that Netflix was negotiating with Disney to keep Star Wars and Marvel movies, after Disney announced their own streaming service and would be gathering up their various properties from deals made prior.

Well, it looks like Disney has decided to pull the plug completely, so there will be no separate agreement with Netflix to keep Star Wars and Marvel. According to Variety, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that their new streaming service would be ready in late 2019.

We’ve now decided we will put the Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ movies on this app as well

It is not clear if this would be an immediate end to Netflix's streaming of these movies, or if there is some kind of grace period.

Netflix has been working hard to increase their original content, with shows like House of Cards, Narcos, and yes, Marvel's The Defenders. (It had been stated earlier that The Defenders and its spinoffs would not be pulled.) In an apparent counterattack to Disney, Variety reports:

Shortly after Disney announced its plans, Netflix hit back by poaching ABC Television hitmaker Shonda Rhimes in an exclusive overall deal. Rhimes, the Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal creator, has spent more then a decade at Disney’s ABC. The development came amid negotiations between Disney and Netflix over the streaming rights to Marvel and Lucasfilm titles.

Interestingly, shares of Disney were down 4% today, while shares of Netflix were flat.

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