Disney Plus Angers Subscribers After Pulling Original Sci-Fi Movie Less Than Two Months After Release

Crater, an original sci-fi movie from the producers of Stranger Things, was pulled from Disney Plus less than two months after its release, and people are not happy about it.

According to The Independent, Crater cost $53.4 million, and it was only part of the Disney Plus library for 48 days before disappearing from the streaming service without warning. The news triggered concern about the future of other titles amid these continuing and unceremonious content purges.

@DisneyPlus can you guys give us heads up when you’re gonna yank shows or films off. Was gonna watch Crater this week. If I knew it would be gone I would have watched it last week. This is insane. Looked like a cool story. What sucks can’t find it on iTunes either so guess I will…

— Ray Abu Salim ? (@Saxgod) July 5, 2023

Was wanting to see the new @DisneyPlus movie “Crater” but just found out they deleted it only weeks after it was released. The more they delete the less reason there is to subscribe, very frustrating

— Blake Roller (@BlakeRoller) July 3, 2023

Tried to rewatch the excellent Crater on @DisneyPlus only to find it’s been inexplicably deleted. It’s only been 3 weeks since I watched it. It’s like the pre-VCR era when missing a show meant it was gone, but at least then it was free. Why am I even paying for these services? ?

— Trike (@Trike) July 2, 2023

@DisneyPlus wtf….Crater came out less than 2 months ago and it’s already gone, no notice. Enough of this crap. Release the stuff on physical media or keep it on your streaming service. This just deleting content is completely idiotic.

— DH (@TheAceGambit) July 5, 2023

Crater premiered on Disney Plus on May 12, and it told the story of a boy growing up in a lunar mining colony who set out with his friends to explore a legendary crater before being relocated to another planet. The movie starred Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s Mckenna Grace, with Kyle Patrick Alvarez directing from a screenplay by John Griffin.

Its departure from the platform follows the May removal of more than two dozen shows across Disney Plus and Hulu. Perhaps the most high-profile of these was Willow, which wrapped up its run less than six months earlier.

The move follows Disney CEO Bob Iger’s mandate to cut content on its streaming services after losing more than a billion dollars on the platform. According to a report by Variety, Iger is targeting $3 billion in savings in 2023. The purge reportedly comes with a content impairment charge of $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion.

Disney’s new strategic approach to content curation combined with the mass exodus of content from platforms such as Max has raised some questions about media preservation. With few receiving physical releases, more and more titles seem fated to disappear from existence entirely.

However, some HBO shows have started to arrive on Netflix under Warner Bros. Discovery’s new licensing deal. Insecure was recently added to Netflix’s library for US subscribers, with Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Six Feet Under, and Ballers set to arrive at a later date, as part of an agreement co-exclusive with Max.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.