Good and bad news, Netflix fans: The streaming giant’s decision to focus on original content means that less popular blockbusters will be available going forward.
Netflix has literally changed the world, popularizing the streaming model and allowing viewers to binge on shows and movies from their own home. For a fixed cost, we can stream as much as we want, and pretty much whatever we want.
Although plenty of content isn’t available on Netflix (especially if you’re streaming from outside the U.S.), you’ll usually be able to find most of the big blockbusters and network shows a few months after their initial release.
The mix of popular and obscure, new and old, and foreign and domestic content means that even if you don’t find what you were looking for, there’s always going to be something worth watching.
But the times they are a-changin’, and it looks like Netflix will be a-changin’ very significantly in the near future.
The Wrap reports that Netflix has decided to definitively end its relationship with the cable channel Epix, effective this September.
Epix is the gatekeeper of content from MGM, Lionsgate and Viacom’s Paramount. That means popular films like The Hunger Games series and World War Z is permanently off the Netflix menu, starting next month.
Netflix SEO Ted Sarandos explained the decision in a blog post, writing, “While many of these movies are popular, they are also widely available on cable and other subscription platforms at the same time as they are on Netflix and subject to the same drawn-out licensing period. Through our original films and some innovative licensing arrangements with the movie studios, we are aiming to build a better movie experience for you.”
That means focusing more on original content, and giving you access to mainstream movies available elsewhere. (Consequence: We’ll have to subscribe to more than one streaming site! Our wallets are crying.)
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Netflix has released some of the most celebrated and popular series over the last few years including Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and has several multi-picture deals with Hollywood professionals (eg. Adam Sandler and the Duplass brothers).
“It will take us time to build a robust slate of original movies,” Sarandos wrote, “but we’re hard at work on it with such great stars and directors as Brad Pitt, Ricky Gervais, Judd Apatow, Angelina Jolie, Sofia Coppola and Adam Sandler,” he wrote.
Further, Netflix is also set to release a slew of Marvel series, including this year’s Daredevil and the upcoming AKA Jessica Jones.
The streaming corporation still has partnerships with several major Hollywood studios, including Universal, Sony, Disney, Marvel, and Dreamworks.