Amazon Streaming Movies In A Theatre Near You
The Theatres Swore It Would Never Happen
Amazon Prime Video has managed to do the almost impossible, convincing several studios including Disney, to allow them to rent or sell movies currently in the theatre to Prime customers. The prices are usually similar to a movie ticket and will apparently be available for the next 48 hours if you want to check out a new release without endangering everyone and yourself.
With the current battle between movie theatres and streaming services this is a fairly big deal and displays a certain level of desperation from the industry. Now that the doors are opened it will be hard to shut everything back in once things return to normal. NBC and iTunes will also be offering similar services thanks to a deal with Comcast owned Universal Pictures.
For the most part these will only be available to US subscribers, unfortunate for those connecting from outside the US.
Movies currently offered through the hub include Onward, The Hunt, The Invisible Man and Emma, although Onward is only available at the $18.49 purchase price, while the others are only available for rental at that same reduced price. They'll be available to rent for 48 hours.
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Pretty confident Amazon had little to do with this. This was a decision made primarily by Universal over a week ago. They released three movies last Tuesday across multiple streaming services (Amazon included) under the Home Premier banner. This is an effort to make up lost earnings thanks to theater closures.