Disney Can't Show Star Wars Movies On TV, Is Reportedly Trying To Get Rights Back

When Disney's streaming platform launches in 2019, Star Wars is expected to form a big part of it. There is a live-action TV series currently in the works, and it's likely that animated shows such as Rebels and the upcoming Resistance will also be on there. However, the rights to screen the movies are currently owned by Turner Broadcasting, and it has been reported that Disney wants them back.

According to Bloomberg, Disney sold the TV rights to Turner in 2016, before it had announced its plans for the streaming service. The deal runs until 2024, and includes the original trilogy, the prequels, and the newer movies. Turner, which owns cable networks such as TNT and TBS and is part of the telecommunications giant AT&T, paid around $275 million for the rights.

Bloomberg states that Disney has made preliminary enquiries about buying them back, but these have not progressed very far. Unsurprisingly, Turner is looking for "financial considerations and programming" to replace the Star Wars movies if they moved back to Disney before 2024.

Disney's decision to make to this deal was hardly unusual. Studios have traditionally sold the TV rights to their movies to networks and cable services once the theatrical and home entertainment cycles are over. However, the media landscape is rapidly changing, and studios like Disney are increasingly interested in retaining the rights to their films to make them available on their own services. The studio has already decided not to renew the deal that allows Netflix to screen the recent Star Wars movies when it ends later this year.

The live-action Star Wars TV show was first announced in November last year. Jon Favreau, who directed Iron Man, The Jungle Book, and the upcoming The Lion King for Disney, will act as showrunner. In May, Favreau revealed that the show will be set seven years after the events of 1983's Return of the Jedi, and would feature new characters.