Disney Join Other Studios & Platforms To Launch Movies Anywhere
Today it was revealed that Disney have launched Movies Anywhere in the U.S, where they have teamed up with other Hollywood studios and four major digital retailers on board to offer one place for digital movie purchases. The program features films from Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios (encompassing Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm), Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment purchased or redeemed through digital retailers Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu, Movies Anywhere brings the movies people love together to create a simple, seamless digital entertainment experience across platforms.
Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts. Movies Anywhere syncs users’ libraries across their connected accounts, so consumers can watch their purchased and redeemed digital movies on an array of platforms including Amazon Fire devices; Android devices and Android TV; Apple TV; Chromecast; iPhone, iPad and iPod touch; Roku® devices and popular browsers, with more platforms and retailers to come.
“Movies Anywhere is a massive step forward for the consumer digital media experience, bringing the incredible film libraries of five studios together in a virtual one-stop movie-watching shop,” said Karin Gilford, General Manager, Movies Anywhere, who leads an independent, dedicated cross-functional team of product, technology, marketing and other professionals. “Movies Anywhere means that consumers never have to remember where they purchased a film or which device they can watch it on, because all of their eligible movies will be centralized within their Movies Anywhere library and available across platforms through the Movies Anywhere app and website and also available at their connected digital retailers. And as Movies Anywhere continues to add more studios, retailers and platforms, the entertainment possibilities are endless.”
Movies Anywhere initially features access to a library of over 7,300 digital movies, along with fresh previews and film extras from the studios responsible for such 2017 global blockbusters as Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman,” Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Universal’s “The Fate of the Furious” and Twentieth Century Fox’s “War for the Planet of the Apes.”
In celebration of this exciting new digital entertainment destination, Movies Anywhere is welcoming new users with a limited-time offer to receive up to five digital movies. Activate and connect your account with one of these participating digital retailers— Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes or Vudu —and you’ll receive a digital copy of both Sony Pictures’ “Ghostbusters” (2016) and Twentieth Century Fox’s “Ice Age.” Connect with a second participating digital retailer and Disney’s “Big Hero 6,” Universal’s “Jason Bourne” and Warner Bros.’ “The LEGO Movie” will be added to your digital movie collection.
My Take: This is great news, one of the biggest issues with digital purchases is for consumers to worry about what platform to watch on, do they have the device to play them, will the company still be around in a few years and will my purchases be lost. I really hope this program is launched in other countries as quickly as possible, as consumers start buying less content physically plus the companies themselves have been pushing digital purchases with early access, this could be the big push to move movie “ownership” online. Knowing I could buy a movie on iTunes to play on my iPad, but then access on my Amazon app on my PS4 or smart TV to watch on the big screen is a major plus.
I’ve been on the fence about moving my movie collection to Digital, because I didn’t know what platform to go with and often the price between digital and physical being so close. Only this weekend I was doing some research into the idea of going digital for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean and Spider-Man: Homecoming movies, so this news is exactly what is going to move me away from physical purchases. It also means my bookcases filled with DVD’s and Blu-Rays could be a thing of the past.
What do you think of the Movies Anywhere program?