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Star Wars: Disney, Turner Nets Now Share Linear Rights to Air Films

A new deal between Disney & the Turner Networks sees 11 live-action Star Wars films also now being able to air on ABC, FX, Freeform, and more.

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Thanks to a renegotiated domestic licensing agreement between Disney and Warner Bros., Discovery's Turner Networks that's set to kick in later this month, the chances of having your weekend cable watching being overtaken by a "Star Wars" marathon just grew considerably. That's because -in addition to Disney+ – all 11 live-action "Star Wars" films will now also be available on Disney's linear networks – including broadcast (ABC) & cable (FX networks, Freeform). The "Star Wars" films in the revised deal include A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Force Awakens (2015), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), The Last Jedi (2017), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Not wasting any time taking advantage of the new deal, FX has a marathon planned for this Saturday, October 7th, that includes the original "Star Wars" trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi) as well as the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (which should get the attention of Disney+'s Ahsoka viewers).

star wars
Image: Lucasfilm

Of course, this isn't the first that that Disney and Warner Bros. negotiated over these specific rights. Back in 2019, "The Mouse" was eyeing buying the rights back after the announcement and impending release of Disney+. At the time, Disney promoted the streaming service as being our "one-stop-shopping" for all things "Star Wars" and Marvel, so locking in the rights was considered a priority. When the dust settled on that deal, Warner Bros. kept the linear rights while Disney+ took on the full film library within its first year. Now, both Disney and the Turner Networks are running under a co-exclusive, multi-year agreement regarding linear rights that expire at the same time (with no word on what happens after that time, rights-wise). Deadline Hollywood

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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