Before Disney+ launched, many exciting originals were announced. Of these early announcements, a bunch of titles disappeared and never saw release. The pandemic in early 2020 resulted in some of the planned series or films getting cancelled and others getting delayed considerably. The SAG and WGA strikes in 2023 probably resulted in more getting killed.
Update: As of August 2023 we believe almost every series and film listed here is scrapped permanently except for Aladdin: Live From West End which will come when the stage musical ends. The Untitled Chris Paul movie was supposed to film late 2022. Maybe it silently did. Oh, and 3 Men and a Baby is still something we expect to eventually get made alongside Sister Act 3. Everything else? Dead as a doornail.
We removed Lando as it is moving forward now and might actually get made after the strikes. We also removed A Real Bug’s Life as Nat Geo claims it has been completed for a 2023 release.
| TITLE | MOST RECENT STATUS | INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT |
|---|---|---|
| INK & PAINT | Initial Disney+ launch promotional materials and brochures mentioned INK & PAINT would be a YEAR 2 title. It’s now YEAR 3. No updates since. | October 3, 2018 |
| LIFE & DEAF | No updates have ever been received. FutonCritic suggests it’s scrapped. As they say, “Previously in development (2020-2021 season).” | July 3, 2019 |
| ALADDIN: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL fka ALADDIN: LIVE FROM WEST END | The film was intended for early 2020 release, but postponed when Hamilton got fast-tracked for July 2020 release. On July 15, 2020, it was reported a Disney rep had confirmed the film’s streaming details would arrive shortly. The idea was to capitalize off success of Hamilton and release it later in 2020. On September 19, 2020, Apple TV+ leaked the thumbnail and official art when they accidentally had it appear in the “Recently Added” row. The next day, the poster appeared with a 2020 date. On January 6, 2021 the ridiculous saga continued when TheDisInsider claimed the video would premiere between February and April 2021. Genuinely, the handling of this title reeks of incompetence. It’s now been delayed roughly 6 times. Just release it! Annual Broadway on film releases should be the norm. | September 1, 2019 |
| EXPLORER ACADEMY | No updates since. | October 16, 2019 |
| BIGGEST STAR IN APPLETON | No updates have ever been received. FutonCritic suggests it’s scrapped. As they say, “Previously in development (2020-2021 season).” | December 3, 2019 |
| THE NIGHT MARKET | No updates have ever been received. | December 3, 2019 |
| PEOPLE & PLACES (Revival) | No updates have ever been received. Original series remains unstreamable on Disney+. FutonCritic suggests it’s scrapped. As they say, “Previously in development.” | October 18, 2019 |
| THE MAZE | Casting call went out February 2020, weeks before Hollywood shutdown. No news on if series ever resumed production. It’s by the same team as The Quest who managed to quietly film the series in 2021. Could this series have similarly been stealth-filmed? | January 29, 2020 |
| ONCE ON THIS ISLAND | No updates since. | July 30, 2020 |
| UNTITLED MAKING OF SOUL DOCUMENTARY | No updates since. | October 9, 2020 |
| THREE MEN AND A BABY (Reboot) | Disney’s initial announcement provided a 2022 release plan. On January 29, 2021, Mo Marable signed on as Director. The move never started filming. The 2022 release is not happening. No updates since January 2021. | December 10, 2020 |
| UNTITLED KEANON LOWE | No updates since. | December 10, 2020 |
| 61 fka UNTITLED CHRIS PAUL | On September 27, 2021, Tori Sampson is named writer and working title 61 is revealed. No Director or actors were attached at that point. There have been no updates since. Was scheduled to film October – December 2022… nobody can confirm if it happened. | December 10, 2020 |
| SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (Reboot) | No updates since. Jon Chu is a busy man. | December 10, 2020 |
| A DROID STORY | Animated film. No updates since. | December 10, 2020 |
| SECRET GUIDE TO CELESTIAL CREATURES | No updates since. | December 15, 2020 |
| OCEANXPLORERS | 6-episode docuseries. February 7, 2022 it received a 2023 release window in Nat Geo’s Winter TCAS press release. | February 9, 2021 |
| OUR TIME | No updates since. | December 15, 2021 |
| NOGGIN | No updates since. | December 16, 2021 |
Which of these titles do you hope release? Which do you think are dead FOREVER!?