According to Australian retailer Sanity, Disney will cease all physical media in Australia with the final release to be Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.
Posting to its Facebook page, the retailer said: “Farewell to Disney’s physical media in Australia – act fast & don’t miss out on your last chance to own your favourite Disney classics, MCU flicks, Star Wars movies & more at Sanity” before linking to this catalogue of every Disney/Fox property.
Naturally, commenters were a little confused, but Sanity assured them that this was the case following up with:
“To help clear up any confusion or questions. There is no way we would post this if we didn’t know it was happening. Guardians of The Galaxy will be the last preorder”.
Sure enough, as part of writing this article, I looked to try and find other upcoming Disney movies that would be normally releasing on physical media, starting with The Little Mermaid that hit cinemas just a few weeks after GOTG Vol 3, and could not find any listings live on any Australian retailers, despite it being live on US and EU retailers.
This is sure to upset collectors and enthusiasts wanting the best possible quality that Blu-Ray delivers, but it’s clear Disney is wanting to push Disney+ and has likely seen a decline in physical sales.
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more about this, but in the meantime, if there’s any Disney classics that you’re looking to own, we’d recommend acting fast as if this is true, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see future reprints of existing titles.
