Disney Admits ‘Streaming is Dead’ to ‘Andor’ Director Tony Gilroy

Disney’s once high-flying streaming service, Disney+, is apparently facing serious trouble, with one unnamed insider at Disney admitting “streaming is dead.”

In a report from Matt McGloin at Cosmic Book News, Recent comments from Tony Gilroy, the creator behind the Star Wars series Andor, reveal just how deep the problems go. Gilroy shocked fans by saying that Disney spent a massive $650 million on just two seasons of Andor—24 episodes in total. Despite this huge budget, by the time Season 2 rolled around, Disney told him, “Streaming is dead,” and there was no more money to spare.

In an interview with IndieWire the director explained: 

“I mean, [for] Disney this is $650 million,” he said. “For 24 episodes, I never took a note. We said ‘Fuck the Empire’ in the first season, and they said, ‘Can you please not do that?’ … In Season 2, they said, ‘Streaming is dead, we don’t have the money we had before,’ so we fought hard about money, but they never cleaned anything up. That [freedom] comes with responsibilities.”

This matches what we already know about Disney’s streaming losses. Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted that streaming lost the company $4 billion. As a result, Disney is pulling back on both Star Wars and Marvel projects.

The problems for Star Wars on Disney+ are clear. The Acolyte cost them more than $220 million to make and was a total flop. Nielsen ratings showed that the series was watched by 75% fewer fans than The Mandalorian, one of Disney+’s biggest hits. Because so few people watched, Disney quickly canceled it after just one season.

The failure of The Acolyte hurt other Star Wars projects too. Skeleton Crew, another recent Star Wars series, did not even make the Nielsen charts—a first for a Star Wars show on Disney+. Now, Disney has announced they’re planning to release only one Star Wars show per year, with Ahsoka Season 2 currently in the works.

Marvel’s situation is just as bad. After the huge success of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel’s Disney+ shows have struggled to keep fans interested. Big-budget shows like The Marvels, She-Hulk, and Secret Invasion cost millions but failed to attract viewers. Even Daredevil: Born Again, a highly anticipated show, did not make the Nielsen charts—another first for Marvel on Disney+.

Upcoming Marvel shows like Ironheart and Wonder Man are also expected to struggle. Even though Disney is retooling some shows, fans are not tuning in like they used to. The failure of these shows has led to big budget cuts, which could hurt future projects like Ahsoka Season 2.

With massive losses, high spending, and low viewership, Disney+ is in trouble. And as a result, fans can expect fewer Star Wars and Marvel series in the future, which is probably a good thing. The days of Disney+ as a must-have streaming service may be over—at least until Disney can find a way to turn things around.

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