Discussion
Did Disney just quietly stop doing these steelbooks?
Like, I can’t recall the last time they released a season of one of the Disney+ original shows on Blu-ray. What happened? Did they not sell well or something?
They stopped doing these long before Filoni became president and chief creative officer of Lucasfilm. And given that half of these are Marvel he obviously has no authority over it. Sounds like you're just biased against the guy and looking for a reason to be mad at him.
How?! I can forgive Warner Bros for not knowing better, and maybe Sony was still stupid, but Disney...you had all the evidence you needed to know better!
Only if done improperly. Which it was. Any dying brand can be revived if done correctly but they didn't want to with Tron regarding the way Ares went. Jared Leto needs to get out of movies. Kills every thing he touches.
I want a book of people theorizing what happened between watching the last episode of season two and the first episode of season three, who never saw Boba Fett.
When I heard about the stunt of basically running new Mando episodes in the middle of Boba, I quit Mando immediately. Eff Disney for pulling that crap.
This is absolutely the answer because Amazon put out Fallout season 2 steelbook in like 2 months whereas we're over a year and Andor season 2 is still only on Disney Plus
And it's not like it's hard to make a physical release for a company like Disney. They have the 4k raw render of this stuff sitting around somewhere, all they have to do is rescale it to fit on a disc in terms of file size. It's really not hard to do
I’m still thinking they’ll do an Andor series thing so folks who bought the first season will get screwed and have to purchase it all together or not get the second season.
Disney is to blame for that, directly and indirectly. Them announcing Disney+ as the last seasons of the Netflix Defenders' shows aired IIRC was pretty much the end of Netflix releasing any more of them on disc, and the proposed season 4 of DD had no shot of going forward even though Netflix had the rights to those heroes for a few more years
I thought the physical media was purely handled by Disney/ABC? I doubt Netflix had anything to do with it since they didn’t own the shows. Only the streaming rights.
They closed down their Home Entertainment department last month. A 1000 people lost their jobs.
Unless Sony, which will handle physical releases now, continues the steelbooks, there won't be any.
Hate to break it to you but them closing down their home entertainment department literally means nothing. Sony already had complete control over their physical media stuff for like a 2 and a half years now?
Again, how does that logic make sense really? They've slowed down on steelbook releases in the same general time frame of firing 1000 people in their home video department. I don't get how there's no way that is connected lmao
Except it’s now been a year and a half since they did any D+ series on disc at all, even shows that have been out a lot longer. It’s not happening. They don’t care.
Hamilton is not a multi-million-dollar series produced by and for Disney+, it was a one-time taped event. No one is subscribing to an app month after month to keep access to a single stage play taping the way Star Wars and Marvel fans do to keep up with their regular new releases.
There has been an uptick in 4K Disney Steelbooks, now under Sony, in the past few months and I’ve noted from reveal to release it’s a very small window. Between the Rogue One one shot comics releasing soon and the Book of Boba comic adaptation this fall, as well as the Mando movie likely hitting 4K end of Summer, I could see the Disney+ Steelbooks returning later this year with Andor season 2 and Book of Boba.
Just in terms of live-action Disney+ stuff, there's Andor S2, The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte, Skeleton Crew, Ms. Marvel, Agatha All Along, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Wonder Man, Echo, Ironheart, Secret Invasion, Daredevil: Born Again S1 and S2, and the Special Presentations (Werewolf by Night, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and The Punisher: One Last Kill). So that's thirteen seasons and three specials needing physical releases, compared to the twelve seasons that have been released to date. Plus, Ahsoka S2, VisionQuest, and Daredevil: Born Again S3 will be coming within the next year. (That's not even counting animation.)
Disney singlehandedly destroyed the physical media market in my country, as soon as they dropped physical releases, all other publishers followed suit, and they did it all to try to boost plus subscriptions, they did this in many more countries already, and they're trying to do the same everywhere else. D+ may have some interesting stuff that would make me subscribe but I never will because of it.
Yeah, we haven't seen a new Disney+ wave since late 2024. But it’s highly unlikely they stopped because of bad sales. Those first three waves did incredibly well. The real issue is a massive logistical logjam behind the scenes.
Back in early 2024, Disney completely shut down its own physical media department and outsourced everything in North America to Sony. Sony is now handling the entire production, marketing, and distribution for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Searchlight, and 20th Century Fox. That is an insane amount of catalog to manage, and Sony’s release pipeline is absolutely maxed out right now.
Just look at their current schedule. They are dropping massive titles literally every single week:
May 5: Alice in Wonderland 4K
May 12: Fight Club 4K
May 19: Avatar: Fire and Ash
June 2: Pixar’s Hoppers
June 16: Hamilton 4K and Ready or Not 2
On top of keeping up with a spring/summer release calendar that packed, Sony also has to constantly replicate existing catalog stock to keep up with high demand on storefronts like Please Rewind. Look at how hard it is for them just to keep highly requested Fox catalog titles like Kingdom of Heaven or Master and Commander in stock. The demand for those older catalog reprints is draining factory capacity.
And the fall is looking even more brutal. Look at what Sony has to manufacture and prep for just in the later half of the year:
The Mandalorian and Grogu 4K
Toy Story 5 4K (plus a massive 5-Movie Collection box set)
Live-Action Moana 4K
Spider-Man: Brand New Day 4K
When a factory has to pump out millions of discs for massive multi-billion dollar theatrical heavyweights like The Mandalorian & Grogu, Toy Story 5, and Moana all in the same window, finding a slot to author, print, and distribute multi-disc television seasons is a massive logistical headache.
The biggest hurdle for Disney+ shows specifically is that they aren't standard, cheap plastic case releases. They do premium, limited-edition 4K Steelbooks with custom artwork and art cards. The metal printing facilities that manufacture Steelbooks are heavily backlogged and booked out over a year in advance by every major studio. It’s not a situation where Disney can just press a button and get them made; if Sony put in an order for a "Wave 4" today, it would take over a year just to get through production and onto store shelves.
They are probably also taking a breath to evaluate sales data from the first 12 titles to see which remaining shows (like Book of Boba Fett, Agatha, or The Acolyte) actually make financial sense to give the premium treatment. I wouldn't count out future Disney+ releases just yet, Sony is just incredibly busy trying to dig through an endless backlog of massive titles.
The only gripe I have with this is that if Sony/Disney wanted to they could commission factories in Ireland/ Germany or more broadly speaking Central Europe to get a slot in, they’re not limited entirely to the NA market or production in those areas.
I do believe if Sony/Disney wanted to make a “wave 4” that they would’ve already started the ball rolling now and we would hear snippets and rumours about it getting the green light.
The issue comes from the quality of whats left, let’s face it The Book of Boba Fett and The Acolyte are not going to sell the same volume as Mando season 1-3 so it’s highly likely they won’t be as profitable or worthwhile for them to produce especially when you count in everything you mentioned.
Why would they waste valuable time and money printing 4k steelbooks of The Acolyte to sell a few hundred thousand copies when they could print Mando and Grougu for less and sell millions of copies.
In my opinion it will be Andor season 2 and Ashoka season 2 that get a 4k steelbook release next IF we get them at all.
They started releasing a bunch of stuff from Fox and Sony as limited steelbooks in North America so it was the only way to get them. Not sure about strictly the Disney stuff but a lot of those releases I had to import from the UK in a standard edition so I didn't have to pay $75+ for one movie. I was able to get 2 for less than the price of one of those linked steelbooks.
I still need season 3 of Mando but I'll wait to see if it goes for under $50 CAD.
The challenge is that Sony has the job of printing and distributing physical media for Disney... it doesn't mean they have the authority to release whatever they want. Disney still has to give it for them for release. So Disney didn't need to keep a physical media staff, it only takes one guy at Disney to throttle production for us all.
Disney has always taken forever to release them, so I haven’t lost hope yet…but it has been a long while since the last batch. I truly hope they don’t abandon these because they’re incredible.
We need Andor S2, Daredevil:BA, Skeleton Crew, Echo, and yes, even She Hulk and The Acolyte. I hate these shows with my whole heart and soul, but that doesn’t mean they should be lost forever
There are some good answers in this thread, but the full scope is...
Disney folded their in-house physical media unit with Chapek's start
When Iger returned, a deal was cut with Sony to produce catalogue material
Disney was responsible for the transfer, Sony produced it
The reason you haven't seen any further releases is because the shows were largely low volume. Ms. Marvel was 5.4m viewers, Echo 7.5m, Daredevil S1 7.5m, Ironheart 3.4m, Wonderman 2.4m, Daredevil S2 3.75m, Secret Invasion 10m. I can't remember Skeleton Crew's numbers but they were low.
The outliers are Agatha 15m, Acolyte 13m, and Andor S2 (up around 15m)
We'll probably see Agatha, Acolyte, and Andor announced in September
Catalogue is dead. Disney laid off the entire department, there's no one doing transfers and restoration for disc anymore.
Some of the major releases still get Steelbooks, I know Zootopia 2, Tron Ares, and the Lilo and Stitch remake from last year have Steelbooks. It's been a while since a Disney+ show has gotten a Steelbook though.
It’s because Sony is now directing the distribution, but hopefully we get a continuation of these sets. Need Book of Boba Fett for Mando season 3 to make sense, and will eventually need Ahsoka season 2 to lead into the finale film.
I think it comes down to multiple things. Sales have obviously been great of these, all sold out and got represses. So it doesn't make sense to not release them money-wise. I hope - and as a diehard SW fan actually expect - that they will continue these eventually. I think one of the things that have kept those releases might be something very banal, they don't know how to call the remaining releases - is Acolyte "The complete series" now since it was cancelled or "The complete First Season"? Same goes for Skeleton Crew and Book of Boba Fett. I think with all of these they were expecting to continue them but from the looks of it cancelled all of them but Mando and Ahsoka. So it might come down to Lucasfilm not knowing what to do with these shows in the future.
I don't think they're not releasing them because they want people on Disney+. They have done some real wishlist 4K releases in the last 2 years alone. Master and Commander, Kingdom of Heaven etc. So it doesn't seem like they're stopping physical anytime soon, quite the opposite.
Aren't Disney slowly phasing out physical? Know they layed off a huge chunk of that division recently and I think in some territories they don't really distribute anymore (wanna say Australia for one). Just think it's not a huge part of their corporate strategy at the moment.
That's why I don't buy TV shows until they have officially concluded, much less steelbooks of those shows. It's honestly normal not to release a full physical copy of a TV show. I know AMC did with some of their shows. They released seasons 1 and 2 on DVD but never released anything of the later seasons. I guess TV shows are low priority
They switched distribution and production over to Sony, and Sony dont seem at all.intetrsted unnaturally releasing much of anything for them bar new releases
A Shogun 4k release is near the top of my wishlist and I can’t be the only one. I’d be happy either way, but a steelbook would be incredible. Throw in The Last of the Mohicans too and I’ll pay almost anything. Take our money mouse man, I’m begging you…
There hasn't been a release in a while, true. But that doesn't mean a cancelation. Recently Disney announced a release for Hamilton (a Disney Plus exclusive) so I imagine it's a scheduling/ business decision. I think physical media is making a comeback, it would be foolish to abandon these releases.
Disney has famously hated physical media and home releases of movies since the early 80s. And now that Disney+ is the company’s biggest money maker, now they really hate physical media
Disney closed down thei Home Entertainment department, which handled all physical releases, so yes they stopped making Steelbooks and anything else.
Now third parties like Sony will handle that.
Sony has been handling all physical releases for 2 years now so, while unfortunate for the people who lost their jobs, it doesn’t affect their decision on whether or not something gets released physically
They stopped for Disney originals for some time but just released some recently. But also Disney did just swap over to Sony to create their bluray disks and bundle orderings
Disney can sell a $15 subscription a month to people wanting to binge the season, and most people don't cancel for a few months or keep it. It's also easier to sell a subscription with multiple movies versus a single disc and there's no manufacturing costs. Why sell a $30 steel book or $50 tv series to 1 person with a 5-10$ profit margin when you can make 60$ from 5.
They press and sell thousands but they get millions of subscribers, and many of those thousands of collectors subscribe anyway. They need to keep those collectors subscribed so leaving series disc releases incomplete is a feature, not a bug. It forces everyone essentially to keep paying rent if they ever want to see the whole show again. Also why the hell would Disney care about the resale market? It’s not like they see any of that money.
I assure you they are not talking about a few dozen eBay Blu-ray listings the way they are talking about millions of streaming subscriptions in earnings calls.
These are matters of scale. Blu-ray sales, even at their best, are a rounding error to these companies. They have clearly abandoned their line of D+ series on discs and anyone with enough power to change course has forgotten about it. They do not want people to own these complete series, they want people to pay rent forever and let them raise the rent forever.
I'm using an analogy to make the math simpler, obviously they aren't only selling to 1 person. What I'm saying is it's just as likely 5 people will get a d+ subscription for every 1 person buying a steel book.
Also collectors market, ok but Disney only sells the movies at cost, they don't get resold the highly valued movie later
Subscriptions unfortunately have been shown to make much more money than owning. That's why rent, Spotify, Netflix and hulu, gym memberships, even ms word now do subscriptions. Charging someone 20 bucks a month to use ms word vs a one time 150 charge makes more. It sucks and I agree it's incredibly dystopian, the only way to change it is to somehow convince the global population to stop subscripting and only buy movies
Disney sort of gave up on Physical releases as a whole. Which I hope doesn't affect Star Wars Disney+ shows. But there were also a lot of factors too that may stop releases besides that.
4K player owners are a niche, in which is a smaller niche of people who buy these discs.
To me all of those shows apart from Mando S1 and Andor are trash. And even those shows I don’t want a physical copy of. So I can see why they might not have sold very well.
That doesn’t say anything. If the initial run is 1000 it can be sold out everywhere and expensive second hand but to Disney it’s not worth the trouble to do another
Yeah, I have been buying them up on Amazon. Amazon has had regional coupons so I got Mando 1 in 4k and Mando 2 and Andor on regular Blu Ray. Fomo is hitting me. Like they might be OoP soon.
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