It might be time to switch up your Internet video subscription services if you’re a fan of some big Hollywood movies.
Netflix announced in a blog post Sunday that the company will not renew its U.S. agreement with Epix, which is a joint venture between the movie studios Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM:
[This] means that some high profile movies including “Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “World War Z” and “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” will expire at the end of September in the U.S. If you want to see them on Netflix U.S., now is the time.
Netflix acknowledges the popularity of such movies but notes that they’re “widely available” on cable TV and through other video subscription services. They’re also subject to “drawn out” studio licensing periods, meaning services like Netflix can’t make the movies available to their customers for sometimes more than a year after they debut in theaters.
Netflix will continue to offer family movies from studios including Sony Pictures Animation, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation. And starting next year it will be the only paid TV service in the U.S. with the latest theatrical releases from the Walt Disney Co., which owns Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel.
As for the Hollywood blockbusters Netflix will soon lose, the company says it will replace them with its own original films as part of an effort to “provide great movies and TV series for all tastes that are only available on Netflix.”
Meanwhile, one of Netflix’s competitors, Hulu, announced Sunday evening that it had signed a deal with Epix. So starting Oct. 1, Hulu will offer the same Hollywood movies that will no longer be available through Netflix.
To learn more about subscription video services like Netflix and Hulu, be sure to check out “How to Choose the Right Cord-Cutting TV Service.”
Do you subscribe to one of these services? Would you change your subscription because of changes involving Epix movies? Let us know what you think below or on our Facebook page.
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