Netflix has signed a deal with Sony to stream movies straight after their theatrical run.
Sony and Netflix have signed a long-term contract. This says that Netflix has exclusive rights to screen movies such as Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima, and Morbius, Where the Crawdads sing and Bullet Train, after they have been on the big screen.
This deal has been almost two years in the making and has ended up with Netflix buying the rights to stream Sony Pictures Entertainment movies in what’s known as a pay one agreement.
This means that nine months after the movie’s big screen debut Netflix will have exclusive screening rights for a certain time. According to Variety Netflix has also signed a contract to stream Sony movies made for the direct-to-streaming market.
It is said that Netflix is obligated to also stream a number of older titles from the Sony vault.
Netflix’s head of Global film, Scott Stuber has said about the deal:
“Sony Pictures is a great partner and we are thrilled to expand our relationship through this forward-thinking agreement. This not only allows us to bring their impressive slate of beloved film franchises and new IP to Netflix in the U.S., but it also establishes a new source of first run films for Netflix movie lovers worldwide.”
Keith LeGoy, President, Worldwide Distribution and Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment also added:
“Netflix has been a terrific partner as we continue to expand our relationship. At Sony Pictures, we produce some of the biggest blockbusters and the most creative, original films in the industry. This exciting agreement further demonstrates the importance of that content to our distribution partners as they grow their audiences and deliver the very best in entertainment.”
This specific contract only applies to the United States for the moment but it is expected to run for five years and will undoubtedly be worth “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
Sony is reportedly in talks on another potentially big theatrical movie licensing pact outside of the Netflix agreement.
Netflix will reportedly have access to the sequel of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and various other “Marvel-related “ films such as Venom, Spiderman and also follow ups for the Jumanji and Bad Boys franchises.
This is an exciting prospect for those who have a Netflix subscription and have pretty much binge-watched most of what they have to show as lock-down is still very much part of our lives.
It will be interesting to see which new titles are brought to Netflix and also which gems are brought out of the Sony vault for our viewing pleasure.