Disney spent years pulling its films and shows off rival services to build Disney+. Now it is renting them back. At a showcase in Johannesburg on Tuesday, The Walt Disney Company Africa promoted new seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and a new Ice Age film, and South Africans who want to catch up on the earlier instalments can do so on Netflix, TechCentral reported.
That is down to a content licensing deal between the two companies. No financial terms have been disclosed.
What is moving to Netflix
- All five Ice Age films and the first two seasons of Percy Jackson, live worldwide since 4 October for a three-month promotional window
- The first four seasons of Will Trent, globally from 3 November
- The first three seasons of Tracker, outside the US from 26 February 2027
- Pixar's Soul and Elio and Raya and the Last Dragon, in early 2027, with availability varying by country
- Older series including Felicity, Revenge and This Is Us
Why Disney is doing it
The windows line up with Disney's own release calendar. Percy Jackson season 3 premieres on Disney+ on 20 November, and Ice Age: Boiling Point opens in cinemas on 5 February 2027. Variety, cited by TechCentral, reported that part of Disney's aim is to build interest in those releases, while titles now on Disney+ stay there and Disney-branded content largely remains exclusive to its own platforms.
The deal lands as Disney+ asks South Africans to pay more. Its Premium plan went from R159 to R179 a month this year, and the market lost a local rival when MultiChoice shut Showmax down at the end of April.
