Manchester United and Disney in talks over documentary deal

Manchester United are in talks with Disney over a multi-million-dollar deal to create documentaries about the club.

According to The Athletic, the production would focus on the Sir Alex Ferguson era, a 26-year period in which United won 38 trophies including 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies and five FA Cups.

There is a lot of material to work with there – and it’s a wonder why they don’t make a series out of the post-Ferguson era, or would that be considered too dark for Disney’s audience? There are players in the current squad that would fit the description of Dumbo and Sleepy.

United would provide access to club archive footage as well as insight from club ambassadors, such as former captain Bryan Robson and treble-winning goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. Furthermore, the club is expected to retain editorial oversight of any project, which is usually the case when documentaries are made involving European football clubs.

Adam Crafton from The Athletic reports: “A deal has not been finalised as United continue to hold out for improved terms. The current proposal is in the low seven figures and Disney’s offer made this year is lower than the terms the company originally offered United when they first engaged on the matter a couple of years ago.”

The Disney+ streaming service previously released its hugely successful series Welcome To Wrexham, which takes the journey of Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny.

Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service recently unveiled a trailer for a documentary specifically about United’s treble-winning season in 1998/99, making the 25th anniversary of the famous triumph.

The treble documentary will be a three-part docuseries.

These documentaries usually become popular and you can be guaranteed that will be the case whenever United release one.

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