On November 2, Disney’s Christmas movie, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, appeared for the first time in theatres in the United States. This is a modern telling of the story contained in Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, The Nutcracker. The ballet itself is based on an 1816 short story by E.T.A. Hoffman titled, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”
In this movie, the main character, Clara, is played by Mackenzie Foy, who received a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for her role as young Murphy in the 2014 space epic Interstellar. She was also nominated for a Young Artist Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film for her role as Renesmee Cullen in the 2012 movie, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.
Also appearing in the Disney adaption of this classic story are Jayden Fowora-Knight as the Nutcracker, Matthew Macfadyen as Clara’s father, and Morgan Freeman as Clara’s godfather. Despite the all-star cast and an elaborate and costly production, this movie has received lackluster reviews.
The production budget of this film was $120 million, and so far, it has received a total of about $139 million at the box office, and of that amount, only about $51 million was in U.S. sales. The other $88 million was in foreign sales.
If you want to see this movie but do not want to spend the money or take the time to see it in the theaters, will you be able to see it on Netflix?
Disney’s Contract with Netflix
At present, Disney is under contract with Netflix to release its new films to this streaming service. Unfortunately, however, this contract will end at the close of 2018, and Disney is not renewing it. Instead, Disney will be starting its own streaming service.
This means that in the future, Disney movies will no longer be coming to Netflix. It also means that Disney may start removing its old content from there as well. Although, apparently, that will not even begin to happen until the end of 2019.
As The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was released in 2018, it is still covered by this contract. This means that it will indeed be coming to Netflix.
When Will The Nutcracker and the Four Realms come to Netflix?
Even though this movie will make its way to Netflix, it will not be there to watch during the holiday season this year.
Given the usual pattern, it is likely that The Nutcracker and the Four Realms will come to Netflix between June and August of 2019 in the United States. It is also likely to be released in Canada at around the same time.
Other regions, such as the United Kingdom, may have to wait a much longer time because of contracts with other providers.
Usually, once a Disney movie appears on Netflix, it stays for about a year and a half before it is pulled. So, while it will not be around for this holiday season, you will probably be able to watch it on Netflix next Christmas.
While The Nutcracker and the Four Realms will not be available on Netflix this holiday season, there are many other holiday specials available, including many Netflix originals.
Some original Christmas specials we will get to see on Netflix this year are:
- The Holiday Calendar – starring Kat Graham, Quincy Brown, and Ethan Pack, which is about a magical holiday calendar that grants a new gift every day.
- The Princess Switch – starring Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Palladio, Mark Fleischmann, and Susanne Braun, which has similar themes to last year’s special, A Christmas Prince.
- A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding – the sequel to last year’s A Christmas Prince, starring Rose McIver and Ben Lamb.
- The Christmas Chronicles – starring Kurt Russell as Santa Claus, in which two children try to catch Santa on video, but wind up going along with him on his deliveries.
Also, on Christmas day, Netflix will be releasing the first season of a Watership Down. This is a modern adaption of a 1978 movie on the same name which itself was an adaption of the award-winning novel. While the movie contained some brutal scenes, it has been reported that this series is more suitable for children.
Also Read: Will Aquaman Come To Netflix?