Your Netflix and chill plans just got more exciting.
The streaming giant has entered into a five-year deal with Sony Pictures, reportedly worth $1 billion, which will see the studio’s blockbusters added to the Netflix catalogue after they have completed their theatrical and home entertainment runs.
Commencing in 2022, big-budget titles like Morbius, Uncharted, Bullet Train and the sequel to the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will be available for Netflix subscribers to watch in the comfort of their own homes along with instalments from major Sony franchises like Jumanji and Bad Boys.
If old films and nostalgia is more your cup of tea then Netflix has you covered in that arena too as the platform will also have the licencing rights to stream various titles from Sony’s extensive back-catalogue, including Columbia’s laundry list of films that spans almost a century. Offerings from studio arms Tri-Star, Sony Pictures Classics and Screen Gems will also be available to Netflix customers.
And don’t worry comic-book fans — you have not been forgotten, as Netflix will also have a steady supply of Marvel content, previously unobtainable for the streamer due to the arrival of Disney+. Moving forward, future instalments of Spider-Man and Venom will be added to the library although it is worth noting that both Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home are not included in the deal as they are 2021 releases, thereby premiering before the agreement takes effect.
The move comes as studios and streamers have been forced to reevaluate how they deliver content to consumers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw cinemas shut down globally and people confined to their homes in order to stop the spread of the virus.
Sony is certainly not the first major studio to ink a deal like this, either. Warner Bros. Pictures made its entire 2021 new release slate same day available on both HBO Max and in open cinemas, while Universal has coined an agreement to have its films premiere on premium video-on-demand services 17 days after their theatrical release.
Paramount Pictures also made similar waves by announcing that some of its major theatrical titles including Mission: Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place Part II, will debut on Paramount+ just 45 days after premiering in cinemas.
While the thought of everyone having access to quality content they may otherwise miss out on due to socio-economic or geographical factors is undoubtedly exciting, it must be said that there is nothing quite like entering a cinema with a group of strangers only to be united in the experience of watching a compelling story in the dark, together.
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