Horror masterMike Flanaganhas responded to calls for hisNetflixshows to be released on physical media. In the last year, it has become clear that finding your favorite movie or TV series on a streaming platform is something that can become difficult if the streamer in question decides to drop titles from their available catalog. This is something fans fear could happen with the popular horror shows of director Flanagan, includingThe Haunting of Hill HouseandMidnight Mass. Flanagan has revealed that he attempted to get Netflix to put his shows out in physical formats, but they refused.
The Haunting of Hill House
Like many multimedia formats that have reached the end of their shelf-life, physical media such as DVDs and Blu-rays seemed destined to go the way of the VHS tape in the boom of streaming platforms, where anything and everything is – mostly – available at the touch of a button. However, in the last few years, there has been a new surge in interest in once again owning an actual copy of new movies and TV shows that were originally streaming exclusives. It seems that Flanagan is a big champion of seeing his creations making it to shelves, but so far his attempts to make it happen have been unsuccessful. According to a post by thePresident of Physical Media on X/Twitter, Flanagan said:
“In the years I worked at Netflix, I tried very hard to get them to release my work on Blu-ray & DVD. They refused at every turn. It became clear very fast that their only priority was subs, and that they were actively hostile to the idea of physical media. This is a very dangerous point of view. While companies like Netflix pride themselves on being disruptors, and have proven that they can affect great change in the industry, they sometimes fail to see the difference between disruption and damage. So much that they can find themselves, intentionally or not, doing enormous harm to the very concept of film preservation.”
Netflix Has Not Released Home Media Versions of Their Biggest Shows
One reason many people are eager to see a copy of popular streaming titles sitting in their hand comes down to the way any streamer can drop titles overnight, even their own exclusives. This happened with theDisney+ seriesWillow, which was removedfrom the platform after a poor initial reception from fans. This means that currently no one can watch the series anywhere – without resorting to piracy, which is again on the rise.
Mike Flanagan Teases Undiscovered Easter Egg in The Fall of the House of Usher
Creator Mike Flanagan says fans have been pretty good at spotting the numerous Easter eggs in his shows, but there’s one that has yet to be found.
Recently,Disney finally began releasing their original wave of Marvel TV shows–WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, andLoki– on DVD and Blu-Ray. With the titles originally releasing in 2021, it has taken a few years for Disney to give many fans what they have been asking for, but whether Netflix will follow suit is yet to be seen. Flanagan certainly doesn’t hold out much hope of seeing his shows released in these formats anytime soon, but if any of them do vanish from the platform, we can expect to hear a lot about it from fans on social media.
