Disney has reportedly halted production on any future Disney 4K physical media releases of catalog titles – including the entire 20th Century Studios an Searchlight libraries.
The Digital Bits reports that the studio does “not have any plans” for any future 4K Ultra HD catalog releases aside from its own Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel-related projects. The abandoning of 4K physical media is in order to put the focus on building its Disney+ streaming service.
This means 4K disc copies of films like “Fight Club,” “Aliens,” “The Abyss,” “The French Connection,” “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” “True Lies,” “Cast Away,” “Moulin Rouge,” “The Verdict,” “The Thin Red Line” and so many more may never come. The last Disney 4K catalogue releases on disc appear to be “Home Alone” and “Hocus Pocus”.
One small bit of hope is that Disney will offer the licenses to its less-demanded catalog titles to indie studios like Criterion, Arrow, or Shout! Factory though its said to be unlikely. It seems doubly strange though as home entertainment sales are currently up, especially for vintage titles.
