Disney+ may never get the first four Indiana Jones movies. Star Wars has obviously been the primary focus for Lucasfilm ever since they were acquired by the Mouse House in 2012, but the studio is also home to another iconic blockbuster franchise. Debuting in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, archeologist Indiana Jones is one of the most recognizable action heroes in cinema, giving Harrison Ford another trademark role. Ford reprised the character in three more films, and is currently gearing up for another adventure in 2021’s Indiana Jones 5.

This week, Disney launched their highly-anticipated streaming service, Disney+. In addition to featuring original shows like The Mandalorian, a key selling point of Disney+ is the ability to watch literally hundreds of titles from the company’s vast library, including several Marvel and Star Wars films. While Lucasfilm is well-represented on Disney+ thanks to the galaxy far, far away, fans might have noticed Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. is nowhere to be seen. There’s a good reason for that.

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Even though Disney reached a deal with Paramount for future Indiana Jones distribution and marketing rights, Paramount keeps the rights to the first four movies they released between 1981-2008. Because of that, Paramount controls where the films can stream. Currently, they can all be found on Netflix, as part of Paramount’s licensing deal with the streaming giant.

It is unknown how long Paramount’s agreement with Netflix lasts, but there’s evidence Disney isn’t counting on getting the old Indiana Jones movies any time soon. The missing Star Wars and MCU films can all be found via Disney+’s search function, and list an exact date users can expect to stream them. If one searches for “Indiana Jones” on Disney+, no results come up. That implies there are no plans in place to add Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to Disney+ in the near future. The situation is similar to the MCU’s solo Spider-Man movies, which are Sony’s property. Because Paramount holds the rights to the Indiana Jones movies, it’s up to them what happens. It’s possible the Indiana Jones movies could migrate to Disney+ at some point, once the licensing deal with Netflix expires.

Fortunately, this won’t be an issue for Indiana Jones 5. Even though Paramount receives “financial participation” whenever a new Indiana Jones film is released, Disney handles the distribution and rights. That means Indiana Jones 5, and any possible other movies in the franchise afterwards, will be exclusively streaming on Disney+ (much like all of the upcoming Star Wars and MCU films). It would be nice if one day the full series was on one streaming platform, but at least all of the Indiana Jones films are easily and readily available through various means.

Key Release Dates
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  • Indiana Jones 5 (2023)Release date: Jun 30, 2023
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Chris Agar
(5540 Articles Published)

Chris Agar is a news editor for Screen Rant, also writing features and movie reviews for the site as one of Screen Rant’s Rotten Tomatoes approved critics. He is a graduate of Wesley College’s Bachelor of Media Arts and Master of Sport Leadership programs. In 2013, Chris was hired to write weekly box office prediction posts in conjunction with the Screen Rant Underground podcast’s Box Office Battle game and his role expanded over the next few years. In addition to covering the latest news and hottest movie topics daily, Chris has attended numerous media events for Screen Rant, including San Diego Comic-Con, delivering content his readers care about. He credits Star Wars and Toy Story with launching a lifelong fascination with movies that led to his career, and now he has a wide range of cinematic tastes, enjoying the latest Hollywood blockbusters, Oscar contenders, and everything in between. Chris’ favorite film genres include sci-fi/fantasy, crime, action, and drama.

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