Miramax the latest studio to ink Netflix U.K. deal
The studio says many of its top films, including "Pulp Fiction," "The Aviator," and "Chocolat," will be available to customers in the U.K. and Ireland.
Netflix has notched another key deal with a movie studio to bolster its streaming service when it launches in the U.K. and Ireland next year.
Earlier today, Miramax and Netflix announced a multiyear licensing agreement that will bring many of the studio's top films, including "Pulp Fiction," "Good Will Hunting," and "Gangs of New York," to the streaming service.
This is the second movie deal Netflix has announced this week for its European streaming service. On Monday, Lionsgate said that Netflix will be the exclusive provider of its first-run films streaming in the U.K. and Ireland. However, Lionsgate said that its new films won't be made available to Netflix for up to a year after their theatrical releases.
The Miramax deal makes no mention of exclusivity or new films. But based on Miramax's strategy of bringing its content to several different services elsewhere around the world, there is likely to be an exclusivity deal in place.
Miramax's willingness to form an agreement with Netflix so quickly after the company's European intentions were made public underscores the attitude shift the studio has undergone over the last several months. After a long delay, Miramax finally signed an agreement with Netflix in May to bring its movies to a digital subscription service for the first time. It followed that up a month later with a Hulu Plus deal. The company has also brought rentals to Facebook.
Netflix plans to bring its streaming service to the U.K. and Ireland in early 2012. So far, an exact release date has not been announced.