Disney+ is a streaming service that a lot of people got for the sake of nostalgia and the hopes of original, exclusive content. Right now, The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda have been keeping the site afloat, as well as a few other niche shows that don’t get the same amount of promotion but are still well done. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, there are lots of issues going on with the future of Disney+.
Right now, it’s being reported Disney+ has “more than 50 scripted shows and some 50 unscripted shows in development,” according to a source with knowledge of the plans, with around 35 original series to be released in its first year. However, there have been some challenges in getting these works from the page into production, with three original series already getting the axe:
In a sign of the challenges, Disney+ has developed then scrapped three original series in the past year: scripted comedy Muppets Live Another Day from Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis and Josh Gad; Disney villains drama Book of Enchantment from Michael Seitzman; and, per sources, a never-announced Tron adaptation from John Ridley. Two other projects — TV series based on High Fidelity and Love, Simon — were moved to Hulu over their adult thematic content that executives weren’t comfortable showing on the family-friendly Disney+.
The Lizzie McGuire reboot was also pushed aside because it was too “sexy,” and sources told Variety that Hilary Duff and Terri Minsky “wanted to do a more adult version of ‘Lizzie’ for the revival, while Disney wants a show that would appeal to kids and families, something more akin to the original series.” According to THR, who allegedly saw the script, it “acknowledged the existence of sex with cheating as a central plot point.”
Oh no, acknowledging the existence of sex. What about the children?!
(Fox)
THR says that the guidepost for Disney is to create “a family-friendly, PG-13 environment” with “different standards for each of its brand tiles.” What that’ll mean in the long run remains to be seen. While there are always growing pains for every streaming service, and it took a long time for Netflix and Hulu to become what they are today, the standard has changed.
I got Disney+ for a year just in case, but personally, I’m only using it to watch Disney movies I didn’t feel like seeing in theaters and for ease of nostalgia. To those who canceled already, they aren’t missing out on much yet. Once the MCU content comes out, we will see if it brings in a fresh audience. Until then, maybe they should consider doing a “Disney after dark” option so they don’t have to eschew everything new that “acknowledges sex” despite having multiple things streaming that already do that.
(via AV Club)
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