Disney+ to Run Starz Ads to Get Star Wars Streaming Rights Back

The entire library of Star Wars movies, from A New Hope through Rogue One, will be available to stream in the same place beginning next week. The launch of Disney+ on November 12th is putting all of the Star Wars films on the same streaming platform, with The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story being added to the roster once their contracts with Netflix have run out. While the entire Star Wars franchise is owned by Disney, and their inclusion on Disney+ has been a major selling point for the new streaming service, the House of Mouse had to pull a few strings to get all of the beloved titles on its opening day roster.

Some Disney+ users will see ads for Starz when they visit the service next week. Not ads in the middle of movies or anything like that, but a promo for Starz on the Disney+ login page will appear to those watching on Android devices or in a web browser. These ads are a direct result of the Star Wars streaming rights, as Disney needed to strike some kind of deal to get the full rights to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the rest of the franchise.

According to The Verge, Disney agreed to run Starz ads on both Disney+ and ESPN+ in exchange for the return of the Star Wars streaming rights. Some of the Star Wars films, including The Force Awakens, have been available to watch on Starz, meaning that they likely would’ve been absent from Disney+ at launch. Considering how popular the franchise is, Disney made sure to have each and every film (save for the two latest installments) available on day one.

Disney wasn’t quite as successful when it comes to the Marvel Studios movie rights, however. At launch, Disney+ will only house a handful of movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plenty of those films are tied up in streaming deals with other platforms, keeping them from being on the Disney+ launch day roster. The Avengers, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, and many others will be absent from Disney+ for a while, though the goal is for the service to have every single Marvel Studios movie available at some point.

Are you looking forward to Disney+? Will you be subscribing when it launches on November 12th? Let us know in the comments!