Disney+ makes deal with France to stream films earlier

After years of lobbying by Disney to change France’s inflexible rules on streaming distribution, the megacorporation has struck a new deal allowing them to broadcast their productions just nine months after their theatrical release.

“L’exception culturelle” is the country’s policy when it comes to culture and making sure it stands apart from standard commercial products. As a result, cinema is protected from the free market and any films released in theatres must be given a window of exclusivity before they are broadcast in France.

Up until now, Disney has had to wait 17 months after a theatrical release before they can put films on their streaming services – a delay which has been a point of consternation for Disney since it launched its streaming service Disney+.

Thanks to a promise to invest in French cinema, Disney has reduced their 17 month wait to just nine. A three-year agreement states Disney+ will “invest 25% of its annual net turnover generated in France to finance European and French cinematographic and audiovisual works,” up from the previous 20% figure.

Previously, Disney+ invested 4% of its French net turnover into cinema and 16% into audiovisual. This will shift to 12.5% equally to the two mediums in the first years, and become 14% to cinema and 11% to audiovisual in the final year of the agreement.

One of the first major films to benefit from this new timeline will be Deadpool & Wolverine, which was released in July 2024 in France and will now come onto the company’s streaming platform in April.

Disney previously said that France’s system “needs to be modernised”. Until now, the corporation had refused to follow suit with fellow streaming services Netflix, Amazon and Apple, who shortened their windows by contributing to French cinema.

The current rules mean that any new theatrical release is required to have a four-month theatrical exclusive, before being available to purchase. At six months, they are available on the Canal+ channel and other pay TV channels. After its initial release, a film can be released on Disney+ for five months before being removed to air on free-to-air channels for a further 14 months.

Netflix made a deal with French cinema guilds last year, which includes investment in French and European films over the next three years (all with a release in French cinemas) in exchange for reducing the window from 36 months to 15 months. Amazon agreed to 17 months. The chronology stays at 22 months for the free broadcasters (France 2, France 3, TF1, M6) and 36 months for the free broadcasters’ SVoD platforms. Disney had previously refused to sign this deal, citing that the windows remained too long.