Earlier this month, Disney+ launched a 24/7 Star Wars livestream called “In A Galaxy Far, Far Away,” and it didn’t take long for fans to get hooked. Sadly, the stream was always meant to be a temporary feature celebrating several big milestones in the Star Wars franchise, and after 18 days, it ended last week. Now, fans are wondering why a feature like this can’t go longer, and why streamers don’t offer more of these kinds of streams, playlists, and shuffle buttons. Many enjoyed the feeling of jumping in and out of a broadcast, recalling the sensation of finding a favorite movie or TV show running on cable in the days before streaming. Now, many are imagining the potential of a stream like this running all the time.
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“In A Galaxy Far, Far Away” was streaming 24 hours a day for 18 days straight on Disney+ this month, concluding on May 22nd. It marked several big occasions of the Star Wars franchise — May the Fourth, the conclusion of Andor, and the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith. The stream played nothing but Star Wars content continuously, and by now, there’s plenty of that to go around. Disney+ has all 11 Star Wars movies, plus most of its TV shows and many shorts and specials as well.
The stream helped introduce fans to parts of the franchise they hadn’t gotten around to, or hadn’t even heard of in some cases. Many who are not typically animation fans found it easier to get into a show like Star Wars: Rebels this way, for example, while others finally got hooked on a show like Skeleton Crew that they’ve been meaning to check out. This was a great, low-pressure way for families to get involved in each others’ interests as well.
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One possible reason the stream was short-lived is because of the cost of broadcasting. Fans have speculated that Disney was required to pay residuals to the casts and crews of these productions every time their work played on a livestream. By contrast, an on-demand streaming app does not typically demand the same cost. However, Disney always advertised the stream as temporary, and has not specified a reason why it won’t continue.
Streams like this are often popular, and commenters are left wondering why the can’t go on. However, it’s not clear if this kind of chatter relates to real-life use. In 2023, Netflix discontinued its “shuffle button” features, claiming that they were not used enough to be worth supporting. Those were marked either “surprise me” or “play something.”
Star Wars fans will need to answer the call to adventure themselves for now. The franchise is streaming on Disney+, but the livestream is officially over.
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