Netflix has added another huge name to its studio suppliers today by announcing that it has entered into an exclusive deal to stream The Walt Disney Company films in the UK and Ireland via its subscription service, ranging from classic to incoming movies.
Netflix will now be streaming classic films including Pixar animated features like Wall-E and Ratatouille, Disney animation classics like The Sword in the Stone, Dumbo and Robin Hood, and live action blockbusters like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Pirates of the Caribbean saga.
Netflix will be able to stream these movies but there is one catch; Sky and Disney’s existing agreement whereby Sky Movies (and its new-ish Sky Movies Disney channel) has the exclusive rights to all Disney movies to be shown 6 months after the theatrical run means that Netflix customers will have a longer wait on brand new content.
What this means is that Netflix will be getting Walt Disney’s latest content, but they will have to wait for a year after Sky has screened the films exclusively, but once this time has passed they will appear on Netflix exclusively.
Movies such as The Help, War Horse, People Like Us and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will be hitting Netflix in the coming months and in 2014 some big name blockbusters such as Avengers Assemble, John Carter and The Muppets will also come to the service.
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And that’s not mentioning the future… with Disney having the rights to the Marvel universe and now Star Wars, Netflix will soon have an amazing back catalogue to offer!
Regarding this deal, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said; “We are delighted to be able to offer our members an incredible variety of fantastic family films, from recent hits like Marvel’s Avengers Assemble to beloved classics like Mary Poppins,” and that they “aim to make Netflix better all the time and hope members enjoy the rich offering of films we are making available from the Disney studios.”
It’s a big move from Netflix, which is primarily known for its TV streaming rather than movies, but the Disney association could see many flocking to the service just for the easy access to child-friendly Disney classics.