For years, Hulu has been one of the biggest names in streaming, but a newly leaked document suggests its days as a standalone app may be numbered. Disney is reportedly preparing to shut down the Hulu app as part of its broader “Project Gemini” strategy, signaling a possible shift toward a fully integrated streaming experience. While details remain unconfirmed, the implications are significant for millions of users who have long treated Hulu as a standalone destination. Here’s what the leak reveals — and what it could mean for the future of streaming.
Disney’s secret plan to sunset the standalone Hulu app
The familiar neon-green streaming hub is officially operating on borrowed time. Despite ongoing public assurances from corporate leadership, a leaked internal Disney document exposed a highly coordinated, multi-phase strategy codenamed “Project Gemini.” The ultimate goal? Erase the standalone Hulu app from existence and absorb its entire library into Disney+.
According to an internal screenshot published by Business Insider’s James Faris, and corroborated by two streaming employees familiar with the initiative, Disney plans to complete this unified streaming experience by the close of the calendar year.
At the core of the leaked plan is a clear long-term objective: the full retirement of Hulu as a standalone platform once the transition is complete.
“The Hulu tech stack and app will be decommissioned after all users have transitioned” from that app into Disney+, the document said.
While Disney has publicly stated it has “no current plans” to shut down Hulu, the internal materials suggest that the groundwork for its eventual discontinuation is already being laid behind the scenes.
The Hulu app is on life support
While a public rollout of this scale takes time, the structural dismantling of Hulu is already happening quietly behind the scenes. Resources are actively being stripped away from the platform to choke out future growth.
Three tech employees inside Disney’s streaming division confirmed that core engineering teams have been reassigned. Major feature updates for the legacy app have officially ground to a halt.
“Hulu is on life support at this point, with no active development,” revealed a veteran streaming product employee currently assigned to Hulu.
Officially, Disney’s public relations team continues to maintain a defensive stance, claiming the company has “no current plans” to eliminate the platform. Yet, the stark disconnect between public-facing statements and the internal project roadmap suggests that a total shutdown is merely a matter of when, not if.
A gradual transition rather than an abrupt shutdown
Despite the internal roadmap, the transition away from Hulu is not expected to happen overnight. Instead, employees suggest a more gradual approach aimed at encouraging users to shift naturally toward Disney+ over time.
One employee described the strategy as a slow migration process designed to avoid sudden disruption while reshaping user behavior
In practice, this means Hulu may see reduced investment and fewer updates, while Disney+ continues to evolve with expanded features and content — eventually positioning it as the primary destination for both libraries.
Early signs of decline already visible
Signs of Hulu’s gradual phase-out have already begun to surface outside Disney’s ecosystem. Earlier this year, Hulu’s availability was removed from certain platforms, including a notable exit from Nintendo’s ecosystem. On February 5, Nintendo officially discontinued the Hulu app on both the original Switch and newer hardware, marking a symbolic step in its shrinking footprint across devices.
Taken together, these developments, alongside the leaked “Project Gemini” documentation, suggest that Hulu’s future as an independent app may be steadily winding down—even if Disney has not formally confirmed a shutdown timeline.
Sources: Business Insider, 9to5Mac