Is ‘Star Wars’ Coming To Netflix? Rumors Circulate About Back Catalog

It’s possible your well-built DVD shelf just became a little more obsolete. A new rumor going around suggests that all six of the previous “Star Wars” movies are poised to be available on Netflix in the very near future.

With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” hitting theaters later this year, the time is right for a lot of diehard fans to binge-watch the original three movies, and even more diehard fans to go after the prequel trilogy. As a result, many people’s ears perked up when streaming website Extreamist revealed evidence of all six titles having dedicated placeholder pages on Netflix.

The outlet shared a screen grab it allegedly took of the very legitimate-looking page for the franchise’s first sequel, “Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” complete with a release date, plot description and rating. It went on to claim that it found similar pages, which have since been removed from Netflix’s website, for the other movies: “A New Hope,” “Return of the Jedi,” “Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith.”

Netflix dropped a bit of cold water on the story soon after publication of the article by issuing a vague statement to the press, saying:

“There are no current official plans to bring ‘Star Wars’ to Netflix.”

Strangely enough, the company didn’t seem to comment on why it had those alleged placeholder pages on its website. So, while the streaming giant is playing coy about any potential “Star Wars” plans, CinemaBlend did a bit of digging and revealed a contract deal between Netflix and Disney that goes into effect next year.

According to the outlet, Netflix inked a deal with the Mouse House in 2012 that will see the popular streaming service gain hosting privileges for new releases from Walt Disney Pictures in 2016. That means, when the time comes, Netflix will definitely have access to upcoming titles like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Star Wars: Rogue One.” A relatively simple case could be made for Netflix users to be able to stream all of the new “Star Wars” content as well as the films that came in previous years.

However, the flip side of this coin, which actually works in favor of Netflix’s dismissal statement on the matter, is simply that, with the release of J.J. Abrams “The Force Awakens” coming on Dec. 18, sales of the “Star Wars” movies and merchandise will likely increase. This is something that Disney and Lucasfilm probably don’t want to give away by putting the movies up on a paid-subscription platform. Unfortunately, only time will tell if Netflix is planning to add the entire “Star Wars” back catalog to its library. Until it does, users can watch the popular TV series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which is available to stream right now.