The Sci-Fi Adventure Epic Disney Doesn’t Want Anyone to See
While we believe that nothing is ever deleted in the age of the internet, the digital era brings its own set of concerns, some of which are associated with the entertainment content we enjoy consuming. Namely, in today’s discussion, we’ll talk about 2023’s Crater being removed from Disney+ seven weeks after it debuted on the platform. However, it’s also worth mentioning that the movie’s removal from streaming is only a small part of a larger problem of the digital era.
Disney Removes Crater From Streaming
For those who aren’t familiar with the movie, Crater is a sci-fi adventure starring Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Mckenna Grace, Billy Barratt, Orson Hong, Thomas Boyce, and Scott Mescudi, as their characters explore the legendary crater on the Moon before they’re relocated to another planet. It’s a near little coming-of-age film whose disappearance from the platform caused dissatisfaction among the fans. Namely, Disney removed the movie from its streaming platform without prior warning.
Can You Stream Crater Elsewhere?
Crater is available for streaming elsewhere, of course, so there’s really no cause for concern if you want to watch the film. The movie was released directly to a Disney+ streaming service instead of a traditional release. It garnered generally favorable reviews, and critics praised the production design, the performance of the cast, and the overall narrative of the movie. So, the question remains as to why Disney decided to remove the film from its streaming platform. And as always, the answer lies in finances.
Disney Removed Crater To Cut Costs
The move to remove Crater from the platform comes as part of Disney‘s attempts to cut costs on its streaming services following a billion-dollar loss on the platform. The media giant is now looking to save some $3 billion, which also includes a mass exodus of content from streaming services. It’s not all that surprising, considering the negative critical response to the company’s latest releases prompted the company to cut down on content and start thinking in terms of quality over quantity. While we wholeheartedly support that decision, we also raise questions about media preservation.
The Problem With Streaming
Crater is available for streaming elsewhere, and for a time, it’s not entirely lost to the ages. But what would happen if all streaming services dropped the same content simultaneously? DVD and Blu-Ray movie releases are becoming a rarity with each passing year now that streaming has become the norm, so we can’t actually own content and watch it when we desire. We have to buy subscriptions—buy the rights to watch content without owning the physical media.
Crater Available To Rent On-Demand
This question goes beyond just movies. Video games suffer the same problem, as all major releases that do receive a physical release only contain a CD Key for downloading the game and nothing else. Once the content is gone from the servers, we won’t be able to access it. We’re not discussing a conspiracy theory here, but a good business practice employed by massive businesses in which the consumers are able to watch the content they paid for, only for as long as massive businesses allow it. Can we save Crater from disappearing completely without committing digital piracy?
