Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan says Netflix “refused at every turn” to release his movies and shows on DVD

Flanagan spoke out at the ATX Television Festival

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After announcing that Hush would finally be released on DVD, Mike Flanagan explained to attendees at the ATX Television Film Festival that Netflix fought him tooth and nail when it came to physical releases.

“In the years I worked at Netflix, I tried very hard to get them to release my work on blu-ray and DVD. They refused at every turn. It became clear very fast that their only priority was subs, and that they were actively hostile to the idea of physical media,” Flanaganreportedly told the audienceduring The Monologue Case Study panel.

“This is a very dangerous point of view. While companies like Netflix pride themselves on being disruptors and have proven that they can affect great change in the industry, they sometimes fail to see the difference between disruption and damage,” he continued. “So much that they can find themselves, intentionally or not, doing enormous harm to the very concept of film preservation.”

Flanagan’s projects for Netflix include the movies Hush, Before I Wake, Gerald’s Game, and the TV shows The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club. Flanagan has since moved on to Prime Video, where he is creating a TV series based on Stephen King’s Dark Tower novels.

Hush was removed from Netflix in early 2023 and can no longer be streamed anywhere online. The filmmaker also said during the panel thatHush would get its own DVD and Blu-ray release in the near future.

It’s worth noting that physical media is in more demand than ever, with movies likeSkinamarinkandThe People’s Jokergetting a special, limited VHS release.

For more, check out our list of the most excitingupcoming moviescoming your way in 2024 and beyond.

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Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent’s Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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