With the new age of streaming, it isn’t exactly shocking to see fan-favorite films regularly removed from different applications. For Disney Plus, however, they just removed one of the biggest movies on the service. Specifically, they removed James Cameron’s Avatar, which once broke box office records when it was first released in 2009. Of course, there are a couple of different reasons for its removal.
As noted via WODP, the removal of the film was not announced by Disney themselves. It’s possible that this is actually part of a new marketing strategy. The 2009 film is actually being re-released in theaters this September. As such, it would be a great way to get audiences to see the movie again if they couldn’t stream it from home. Furthermore, Avatar: The Way of Water, the long-awaited sequel to the 2009 film, will finally be released in December. So it would certainly all make sense.
Otherwise, it’s possible that Disney Plus removed the film for the same reason many others have been taken off the service. Reason being, the film was initially owned by Fox and not Disney. These films have different rights obligations than normal Disney films, and as such, they might’ve been contractually obligated to take the film off the service. But since there’s no official reason given for the removal – it’s hard to know for sure.
In any case, fans certainly won’t have trouble finding Avatar elsewhere. Especially with the aforementioned theatrical re-release and the numerous editions that have been removed on home video over the years. And, no doubt, it will eventually return to Disney Plus sooner or later.
As for Avatar: The Way of Water, that particular film was directed by James Cameron. He wrote the screenplay alongside Josh Friedman. Cameron produced the film alongside Jon Landau.
The cast for the film includes Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement and Kate Winslet.
Fans will be able to see Avatar: The Way of Water in theaters on December 16, 2022. Further sequels are also currently in production. They’ll each be released on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028, respectively. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates on the highly-anticipated Avatar sequels as we have them.