Explained: What exactly is going on with Spencer Matthews’ doc and when will it be released?

Last week, Finding Michael, the documentary with Spencer Matthews, was meant to be released on Disney+. However, on the doc’s release date, Spencer posted on Instagram to say it had been delayed.

Hours before it was meant to be aired, Finding Michael was pulled from Disney+, and left loads of people questioning what had happened. The doc sees Spencer Matthews travel to Everest in a quest to recover the body of his brother Micheal, who died on the mountain in 1999.

Aged 22, Michael had become the youngest Brit to ever scale the mountain, but three hours later he disappeared. He was left in the mountain’s death zone, following a storm. In the feature, Spencer says he received a photograph of a body, which looked like it was wearing similar clothing to what his brother had last been seen wearing, and then decided to make the trip to try and identify and bring his brother home.

via Disney

Why has the release date for Finding Michael been delayed?

According to reports, the documentary had its release date paused because the feature shows graphic images of dead bodies. On Friday, Spencer posted: “Apologies to everyone trying to watch Finding Michael on Disney+. The debut has shifted and we’ll update you as soon as we have new timings.”

Disney wrote on Instagram : “We are shifting the debut of Finding Michael and we will update the release date soon.” In a further statement, Disney said: “We’re sorry that the debut date for Finding Michael has shifted on Disney+. We will let you know as soon as we have new timings for its launch. This will be in the near future. Thanks for your patience.”

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via Disney

Spencer Matthews is said to be ‘furious’ the release date for his documentary has been pushed back

Sources have said Spencer is “furious” about the documentary being delayed, given it had already had screenings and a campaign around its release. One said: “This was a real disaster. After endless viewings, two official screenings and an entire campaign building up to a release on March 3rd, it was decided with hours to go that footage of bodies might be deemed insensitive.

“Everest is often too dangerous to recover those who died in the death zone, and the film reflects that. The fact this was only raised with hours to go before the release – and public screenings – is astonishing. So the premiere date was just dropped. Meanwhile, Spencer is doing interviews in which he has to fudge the date.

“He was absolutely furious and there have been some very heated conversations this week. This has been two years of Spencer’s life and it isn’t just a documentary for him – it’s his brother.”

When is the release date for Finding Michael?

via Disney+

It’s been reported Disney+ is “working on” a new release date for Finding Michael, but nothing has been announced yet beyond the streamer saying it will be in the “near future”.

People on Twitter have said its was initially updated on the Disney+ site to say the release date was in 2050, but now it just says it is “coming soon”.

Watch the trailer for Finding Michael here:

A new release date for Finding Michael on Disney+ has not yet been announced. 

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