Disney Reaches Deal With Sony Pictures Home Entertainment For Its Physical Media Production

Disney has reached a deal with Sony under which the latter’s home entertainment division will handle all Disney releases on DVD and Blu-ray as well as all physical media production.

It’s the latest sign of the decline of the physical disc trade. Netflix last fall unplugged its foundational disc-by-mail service and revenue from disc sales has continued to decline markedly in the streaming era, as indicated this month in a 2023 recap by the Digital Entertainment Group, a trade consortium.

The two studios declined to comment when contacted by Deadline.

Sources familiar with the transaction, which was first reported by website The Digital Bits, said the new setup will operate on a licensing model. Sony will market, sell and distribute new Disney releases as well as catalog titles on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra DVD via retailers and distributors in the U.S. and Canada.

The shift was part of a larger evaluation of Disney’s strategy for reaching consumers and comes as the company is facing pressure from some investors to deliver more cost efficiencies. Restructuring and staff reductions in 2023 have delivered at least $7.5 billion in cost savings across the company.