Mystical Majesty: National Geographic Films Acquires Werner Herzog’s “Ghost Elephants”

Track these mystical legends in a new documentary film from Werner Herzog, coming to Disney+ and Hulu next year.

National Geographic Documentary Films has acquired the streaming rights to Ghost Elephants, a documentary from legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog.

What’s Happening:

  • Ghost Elephants is written, directed and narrated by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, featuring appearances by National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes.
  • The film made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and will have its U.S. premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend.
  • In the mist-covered highlands of Angola, deep within Africa’s last great subtropical forest, a mystery endures: the elusive ghost elephants of Lisima, the potential living descendants of the largest land mammal ever recorded. Steve Boyes, conservation biologist and National Geographic’s Okavango Wilderness Project leader, is determined to prove their existence.
  • In order to find these elusive elephants, Boyes and fellow National Geographic Explorer Kerllen Costa have teamed up with three KhoiSan master trackers—Qui (/ui), Qui-Dawid, and Kobus. Refugees from a war-torn past and considered among the most marginalized people in southern Africa, the trackers return to their ancestral lands to succeed where advanced technology could not.
  • Guided by trance, memory and the sacred “Elephant Dance," their journey becomes an odyssey through a land of living myth, where forest spirits guard ancient lakes and the Luchaze people remain the last watchers of a vanishing world. As they reconnect with the “Source of Life"—the waters that sustain the Okavango Basin across Angola, Namibia and Botswana—they seek not just lost elephants, but a path back to identity, hope and belonging.
  • Ghost Elephants will stream on Disney+ and Hulu in 2026, and will also receive a theatrical release from Sobey Road Entertainment.

More Disney Movie News:

  • Another new film from Nat Geo is Lost in the Jungle, which chronicles the unbelievable true story of four Indigenous children who survived a plane crash and 40 days alone in the Amazon rainforest.
  • Questlove’s adaptation of The Aristocats has been shelved, leaving fans wondering what’s next in the world of live-action Disney films.
  • D23 celebrated the 30th anniversary of A Goofy Movie with a special throwback premiere event at the AMC Theatres in Disney Springs.
  • Amy Adams and other actors have officially been cast in Lucasfilm's upcoming movie Star Wars: Starfighter, and the company shared the first on-set image as production begins.

Sign up for Disney+ or the Disney Streaming Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu) now