Netflix & Miramax have signed a multi-year deal that brings hundreds of Miramax titles to Netflix streaming starting in June. From the press release:
“From day one, we’ve been very clear about the importance of digital and our desire to respond to the significant pent-up demand for our films -- delivering to consumers whenever and wherever they want,” said Mike Lang, CEO of Miramax. “This agreement is an important first step in our digital strategy. Netflix has always been a trailblazer, with a tremendous track record of innovation and quality customer service. We’re thrilled to now be in business with them as we build and revitalize the proud Miramax brand.”
Through this partnership, the Netflix library gains a variety of films which collectively have 284 Academy Award nominations, across 83 films, with 68 wins, including the Best Picture winners The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love. Iconic titles such as Bad Santa, Chasing Amy, Cinema Paradiso, Clerks, Cold Mountain, From Dusk Till Dawn, Good Will Hunting, Kill Bill Volumes I and II, Muriel’s Wedding, The Piano, Pulp Fiction, Reindeer Games and many of the Halloween, Scary Movie, Scream and Spy Kids movies will be available over time.
Anyone want to buy a bunch of used DVDs from my collection?
Fabulous news. Thanks.
Posted by: Kealani Smith | May 16, 2011 at 05:47 AM
Sweet! I can't wait to watch Halloween.
Posted by: Keefer | May 16, 2011 at 08:25 AM
Hooray! I hope the quality is massively better than the Starz Play stuff (which isn't hard; YouTube probably has smoother playback than the choppy Starz content).
Posted by: Robotskilledyou | May 16, 2011 at 09:05 AM
The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love. Iconic titles such as Bad Santa, Chasing Amy, Cinema Paradiso, Clerks, Cold Mountain, From Dusk Till Dawn, Good Will Hunting, Kill Bill Volumes I and II, Muriel’s Wedding, The Piano, Pulp Fiction, Reindeer Games and many of the Halloween, Scary Movie, Scream and Spy Kids.
There is not even one movie here from the last 5 years. This is just more crappy old movies that are run on cable all the time. Streaming content is getting worse and worse all the time.
Posted by: BP108 | May 16, 2011 at 10:29 AM
Miramax has some titles I am interested in seeing so I am happy that this happened.
Posted by: Tester | May 16, 2011 at 10:32 AM
This is great news...I can now trade in more of my old DVDs that I no longer watch thanks to netflix Streaming to AMAZON's trade in program.
I'll be able to pay for 9 months or so worth of Netflix with what I get back from Amazon.
Thanks for the news on Miramax...AWESOME
Posted by: Movie Lover | May 16, 2011 at 11:48 AM
this is great news
Posted by: Alkalitta | May 16, 2011 at 12:24 PM
BP108, an important step to Streaming being a complete alternative to the disc based program is filling in the holes in the back catalogue of movies that large numbers of users wish to see and not have to own on DVD for themselves. This miramax collection is a good example: in my family we watch Bad Santa every holiday season and we no longer have to rely upon physical media. Will it be even better when Netflix has every new release on streaming? Of course! But for the mean time the addition of high quality catalogue titles is positive thing.
In addition, a persuasive argument note: when something is added without subtracting to the existing base, it cannot be getting "worse and worse". Can you please endeavor to be a logical, successful shill for outside interests?
Posted by: Socinus | May 16, 2011 at 12:37 PM
@Socinus Fliiling in the holes in the back catalogue.... how about filling in something worth watching? Adding a bunch of old crap really doesn't make the service more appealing.
Posted by: BP108 | May 16, 2011 at 01:46 PM
I don't understand why you would get rid of DVDs just because the titles are on streaming. At some point in time those titles will no longer be available and then you'll need your DVD or Blu-Ray again.
It's not like Netflix streaming content will be around until the end of time!
Posted by: pwrof3 | May 16, 2011 at 01:52 PM
To BP108: "Something worth watching" is subjective. You can't base an argument for how bad streaming is with a subjective viewpoint.
Posted by: pwrof3 | May 16, 2011 at 02:17 PM
nice
Posted by: Some | May 16, 2011 at 04:05 PM
@BP108 - Wow! I thought I was the only person in the world that didn't like Tarentino, Kevin Smith, and Robert Rodriguez films. Then again, I'm rather interested in English Patient, Shakespeare in Love,Cinema Paradiso, Cold Mountain, and Good Will Hunting. Also, whether something is readily available on cable is relative. I don't subscribe to any premium channels like HBO or Starz anymore, so anything else on cable is edited for content and interrupted by commercials, both of which make the presentation unwatchable in my opinion. Besides, while I understand your desire for new release movies on Netflix, it just isn't going to happen. You're just gonna have to deal with Amazon and Vudu for that content. Then again, considering your attitude, I think you already know that... As for me, kudos to Netflix and keep bringing on all of that "old" content. We love it in my household.
Posted by: Jonathan | May 16, 2011 at 04:08 PM
Oh yeah, I agree with @pwrof3 regarding the continued need for DVDs, so... how much exactly are you wanting for your collection of used DVDs Mike??? :)
Posted by: Jonathan | May 16, 2011 at 04:10 PM
Haha, so basically they're jumping on the Netflix Watch Instantly bandwagon since their deal a few years ago with Blockbuster bombed, I think largely due to to no one really giving a crap about Blockbuster by then. But hey, I'm not complaining. They have plenty of good titles in their library.
Posted by: vio | May 16, 2011 at 05:11 PM
Finally Streaming 6/1/11 (no dvd)
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
After Years of no availability.
oh sorry off topic ;)
Posted by: piper | May 16, 2011 at 05:40 PM
@pwrof3 and Jonathan each their own I suppose, but I am a firm believer that we are on the downhill side of using disc based storage for individual pieces of media. I could be influenced by a preference for not having tons of things taking up a corner of my living room. Plus, digital distribution is eco-friendly, with none of that silly packaging waste.
Posted by: Socinus | May 16, 2011 at 06:23 PM
@Vio
Blockbuster's exclusive deal was not with Miramax but with the Weinstein Brothers who had already been pushed out by of Miramax by Disney. So none of these films were part of that deal. Likewise, what the Weinstein's produced under their own banner and was released by Blockbuster are not a part of this deal. But you are right about that four year deal with the Weinstein's not doing much for Blockbuster or the Brothers.
Posted by: ClydesMP | May 16, 2011 at 09:04 PM
Thanks for the heads-up, @piper! I've had "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" in my "Saved DVD" queue for years. In fact, I have 2 other rather obscure titles that now say "Coming Soon" to Instant!
Posted by: Henchman-24 | May 17, 2011 at 10:48 AM
@Socinus
I agree that digital media is the future. But, if you already own the DVD I don't see any reason to get rid of it. You did not offer a solution to the problem of the movie no longer being available for streaming.
Personally, I rarely buy physical media anymore and usually go the Amazon VOD or Zune route to purchase movies and TV shows.
Netflix is great, but the titles available for streaming come and go and are not a reliable option. If I want to watch a certain movie, I can't be assured that it will be on Netflix.
Posted by: pwrof3 | May 17, 2011 at 01:50 PM
LOL @ starting off an "iconic movies" list with Bad Santa and Chasing Amy. That's like starting off a list of great US Presidents with Chester A Arthur and Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: Scott | May 17, 2011 at 03:13 PM
@socinus - I can't say that I buy a whole lot of physical media myself recently, but while I love streaming, as has been mentioned before, you never can depend on there being a specific one that you want to watch available for streaming at that time. Also, quality is any issue, while there is some high quality content available, even in SD, some streams are just completely unwatchable. I was browsing through netflix a several months ago and saw the cary grant movie charade and got all excited, made up some snacks, and settled in for some grand fun, only to stop the playback 2 minutes in because the quality was so atrocious, wrong aspect ratio, blurry muddy picture, choppy panning, unintelligable dialog. And don't get me started on starz content, sometime only a slight cut above that charade encode. If I want to see my fave hitchcock or wilder (etc) movie, I want to know that I can watch it when I want to and at a particular quality level. Suffice it to say, as much as I love streaming, you'll be prying away most of my dvd collection from my cold, dead hands. :)
Posted by: Jonathan | May 17, 2011 at 04:54 PM
This "newer titles to streaming" argument always makes me laugh. Nobody offers what NF offers at this price point. They have a massive and eclectic library of movies ranging from the older up to the fairly recent. In addition to movies they offer several TV series. We would all like to have new and brand new titles go directly to NF with no delay, but we're not living in that world yet. In the meantime this is a pretty good alternative at a super cheap price. Plus which you can always order the DVD's if you so desire. And using cable or premium channels as a comparison is a joke. You might get one or two of those titles to air in a given month subject to their schedule and in the case of cable with commercials all for a big subscription fee. For nine bucks a month NF offers all available titles at your fingertips, on your time table w/out interuptions. It's not even a contest. This Miramax deal only further adds to an already great service.
Posted by: Tbob1.wordpress.com | May 18, 2011 at 04:34 PM
A third of the internet devoted to Scream 3 and Spy Kids 3-D.
Really makes the last 10,000 years all worth it.
Posted by: shthar | May 21, 2011 at 01:32 AM