Netflix UK boosted by exclusive MGM deal
November 7, 2011
By Colin Mann
Following the October revelation that it would be launching a subscription streaming service in the UK and Ireland in early 2012, Netflix has inked a new multi-year licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios that will make Netflix the exclusive subscription streaming service in for most first-run feature films from MGM.
MGM titles will be available for Netflix members in the UK and Ireland to watch instantly in the pay TV window on their televisions, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones, for a low monthly price. Appearing exclusively on Netflix within one year of their theatrical release will be such films as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, the prequels to the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson, Zookeeper, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and 21 Jump Street.
An extensive selection of further MGM catalogue titles will also be available on Netflix in the UK and Ireland, including Capote, Fargo, The Usual Suspects, West Side Story and The Amityville Horror.
“We are delighted to be entering the UK and Ireland with a legendary studio like MGM at our side,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. “And we are excited to be extending our relationship with MGM from the US to these important markets and proud to be the exclusive home for their films in the traditional pay-TV window.”