Washington: Disney and Sony Pictures have signed a multi-year 'content licensing agreement' that will bring new Sony theatrical releases, beginning with its 2022 movies, to Disney-owned platforms.
According to The Verge, this deal also gives Disney the rights to Sony's many old movies, including Spider-Man titles — implying that motion pictures featuring the web-slinger, which are prominently missing from Disney Plus' collection of Marvel films, could eventually make their way to the streaming service. The deal includes Sony's releases from 2022 through 2026 and Disney will get access to them following their 'Pay 1 TV window.'
Starting in 2022, that window, which follows a film's theatrical and home video runs, will be owned by Netflix, on account of a deal declared recently. (That means new Sony films will hit theaters first, then paid rentals and purchases, then Netflix, and then finally head over to Disney platforms, possibly including Disney Plus.)
So despite the fact that Disney and Sony's deal means that Disney will not have new Spider-Man films just after their theatrical runs, the company will get to include them in its streaming catalog over the long term — something that Disney arguably values more.
As reported by The Verge, giving people access to yet another set of movies in its ever-growing collection of Marvel properties could give people more reason to subscribe to Disney Plus.
The company continues to connect the many Marvel films and shows to each other so one will always want to watch the next new MCU thing, and it continues to invest heavily in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courting big names for future series to give fans even more reasons to keep the subscription.
However, if Spider-Man films will make their way to Disney Plus, that will not make Disney's infinity gauntlet of films complete. 2008's 'The Incredible Hulk' (the one starring Edward Norton as the Hulk) would still not be available on the service. Unless Disney strikes some sort of deal with Universal Studios.
The Verge reported that other Sony Pictures properties, like 'Jumanji' and 'Hotel Transylvania', are also included in the deal, as per the statement. Disney's Hulu will also have access to "a significant number of library titles" as soon as this June, according to the release.
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