‘Skeleton Crew’ Not Listed in Disney’s Upcoming Streaming Schedule
On August 9, Disney held its Q3 earnings call, where they reviewed the state of the company between April-June, and announced a few changes going forward, including a $3/month price hike for the ad-free tier of Disney Plus in the US. In the 19-page presentation that was posted online (and that we assume was used during the call), a list of upcoming events for each of Disney’s major arms (theatrical, streaming, and parks) was included, and in the “Key Upcoming Disney Plus and Hulu Releases” list, Skeleton Crew is missing.
As you can see below, there are only dates for projects that will be released up to September 6, but the list goes on with more titles that will follow soon after. Eagle-eyed fans might also notice a few interesting points, like Loki season 2 not having a release date anymore, even though Disney Plus just revealed a trailer saying it will come out on October 6 (two days after Ahsoka wraps). Additionally, A Haunting in Venice is listed as an upcoming Hulu release, even though it hasn’t even debuted in theaters yet (it will do so on September 15).
The list is also said to be “not exhaustive” and “subject to change”, meaning there are titles here that may be pushed back, and other titles that may be pushed up. (Marvel is also missing Echo, which was dated November 29.) However, even considering that this is not locked up and that it doesn’t technically mean Skeleton Crew will be delayed (from what date, exactly?), it’s also the first indication Disney has given that the new series might not release this year — something we’ve suspected for a while might happen, as they wrapped production in January and the ongoing dual strike might push back other projects further down the line, so they might be thinking about spacing out their releases. Notice also how a similar listing from February did include Skeleton Crew (via r/StarWarsLeaks)
There’s also the matter of the strike, and how that has clouded with uncertainty the entire fall schedule. The studios surely hope that they will get this resolved sooner rather than later, so they can have a functional release schedule and keep making money hand over fist, but Disney might have gone the conservative way here and not listed new series they still aren’t sure about. Case in point: Loki season 2 missing a release date, a show that will need Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson promoting to be as big as the first season was. To make up for a potential lack of new titles, they might also be thinking about a narrower theatrical window for A Haunting in Venice.
Perhaps because of the domino effect that delaying Loki season 2 could have, Disney might be thinking about releasing Skeleton Crew later, as it’s clear they don’t want to have two live-action shows from Star Wars and Marvel running at the same time from now on. It’s also clear at this point that the studios want to solve the writers’ strike before the actors’, so in preparation for the latter possibly going into Halloween or even past it, they might be mulling a possible 2024 release. After all, Skeleton Crew is a completely unknown title for which they will need Jude Law to promote.
For now, Ahsoka debuts its first two episodes on August 23.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
