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Indiana Jones and the Last Disney+ Crusade

Source The Motley Fool

Fans of Indiana Jones had a rude awakening on Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) flagship streaming service earlier this week. The first four of the five films in the iconic movie series were removed from Disney+ on Tuesday. They're now only available on Parmamount Global's (NASDAQ: PARA) Paramount+ platform.

Movies and shows come and go, and studio rival Paramount was and continues to be the distributor of the four classic movies. However, because Disney paid $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilm -- the studio behind the Indiana Jones movies -- and put out the fifth and potentially final installment last year, it's easy to see why Disney+ subscribers are confused over the franchise that's now splintered between the two services. It's the new normal for consumers of premium streaming services that continue to grow more premium with every price hike.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

Where doesn't it hurt?

The first four Indiana Jones movies weren't a part of the Disney+ content catalog when the service launched in late 2019. Disney struck a deal to bring the films featuring the thrill-seeking archeologist to its namesake streaming service last year. The move was done ahead of last summer's release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Disney's first Indiana Jones flick since the 2012 Lucasfilm acquisition and the first new entry in the franchise since 2008.

There was a lot riding on the film. It was widely predicted to be one of the biggest theatrical releases of last year but failed to crack the top 10 box-office draws. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny collected $174 million in domestic ticket sales and $384 million worldwide. It would be a great haul for most movies, but a relative dud for a big-budget release when the previous entry attracted far more moviegoers 15 years earlier.

Indiana Jones avoiding rising spikes at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show.

A scene from Disney World's "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show. Image source: Disney.

Not as easy as it used to be

One can imagine that Disney may have found a way to extend the streaming rights if last year's film had been a blockbuster. After last summer's disappointing turnout, there's currently not a sixth film publicly in the works.

It doesn't mean that Disney is abandoning the franchise. Attractions featuring Indiana Jones are present in several Disney theme parks worldwide. A new Indiana Jones ride is coming to Disney's theme park resort in Florida in 2027. Chatter about a Disney+ prequel to the franchise that was initially reported by Variety in late 2022 appears to have faded in the wake of cost cuts and the poor performance of Dial of Destiny, but nothing ever truly dies in Hollywood.

For now, fans of the franchise will have to subscribe to two different streaming services to have access to all five films in the series. It's not ideal. The timing is also pretty lousy.

Disney is raising prices for its streaming services in two weeks. The ad-free tier of Disney+ will increase $2 a month to hit $15.99. This will also be the first time that the House of Mouse boosts prices on the cheaper ad-backed plan it introduced two years ago. It will be going from $7.99 to $9.99 a month.

It took Disney+ five years to become profitable. If sticker shock and the removal of valuable content stings subscriber numbers, things could become problematic for this scalable business model.

Thankfully, Disney continues to add more fresh content to its streaming channels than it's taking away. The media stock that was once posting 10-figure annual operating losses is turning the corner and can't afford to shift into reverse now.

Stakes. Why did it have to be stakes?

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