Disney+ Cancels Series Based on Classic Sports Movie After Two Seasons

Disney+ has canceled two The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers after two seasons. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this cancellation may be related to the recent changes to the executive lineup at the streaming service, as well as other cancellations at the company. Game Changers aired its second season in November week to week.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers was lauded as a promising revival for The Mighty Ducks franchise when it premiered in the spring of 2021, but in hindsight, the decisions that led to its production have been called into question. The show was reportedly greenlit under the supervision of Peter Rice, head of Disney Television with a lot of creative influence, but he was abruptly and unexpectedly fired in June of 2022. A few months later in November, CEO Bob Chapek was ousted as well and replaced with former CEO Bob Iger, implying some behind-the-scenes drama at Disney.

These shakeups may have been significant to the cancellation of Game Changers, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. It noted that Chapek has championed Rice's creative choices, but had been quick to denounce them after Rice's termination in June.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers revived a beloved by niche franchise that started with a theatrical movie in 1992. After two sequels each saw diminishing box office profits, Disney produced Might Ducks: The Animated Series in 1996, which ran for one season. That means Game Changers was the first production in the franchise in 24 years, and it found an enthusiastic audience at first.

The show picks up years after the original movies and finds The Mighty Ducks well-established as a junior team known for cultivating talented hockey players. In its first season, it starred Emilia Estevez reprising his role as Gordon Bombay, while in Season 2 Josh Duhamel took over as a new mentor for the team named Colin Cole. The younger stars include Brady Noon, Maxwell Simkins, Swayam Bhatia, Luke Islam, Bella Higginbotham, Taegan Burns, Fiefer O'Reily, De'Jon Watts and Naveen Paddock.

Ratings and viewership data for Game Changers is not readily available as Disney+ has not reported any numbers for the show. It's not clear whether that was the main reason for the cancellation, but notably, another sports show was canceled at the same time. Big Shot also premiered in the spring of 2021 and aired is the second season in the fall of 2022 before it was canceled this week, according to THR. Again, the reason for the cancellation is not clear. Both shows are still available to stream on Disney+.