In a ground-breaking deal like no other, we’ve seen Sony Pictures Entertainment and Netflix come together to create an exclusive showing window for the studio’s releases, starting in 2022. BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment lawyer Los Angeles look into this innovative deal in greater detail.
Exclusive access starting 2022
The deal, set to replace their existing output arrangement with Starz, a Lionsgate-owned entity, gives Netflix an 18-month exclusive window for Sony properties. They will also have 2 subsequent windows to keep the films on Netflix, even as other platforms can offer showings. Netflix will also have the first-look rights for deals regarding direct-to-streaming titles Sony offers, although this is expected to be a minority element within the deal.
This has been a hotly-contested battle for a while now. While we don’t know the exact terms, the Netflix deal is set at $1 billion over 4 years, according to reliable sources.
Of course, how this will work isn’t completely set in stone, as we are in the era of fluctuating theatrical windows. Yet they are guaranteed the sole rights to a ton of top titles after their theater run ends and they become available for home entertainment. This will start with notable Sony tentpoles including Where the Crawdads Sing, Morbius, and Uncharted.
Building on previous deals
During last year’s tumultuous period, we saw Greyhound, the Tom Hanks film, go to Apple TV+ while a theatrical release was impossible. Should this happen again, Netflix will have the first option on showing offerings.
This adds to the existing relationship the two companies have via their output deal for Sony Pictures Animation- the new deal expanding to all labels and genres under the Sony banner.
Some library rights will be included in the deal, too. Sony already has plans for new installments of key franchises like Venom, Jumanji, and Bad Boys, and Netflix will be able to control the rights for the prior entries as these occur… including a long-awaited sequel to the animated title, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Combating the moves from rival studios
We’ve seen soon-to-expire output deals with HBO from Universal and Fox suggested to instead go to their own streaming pipelines from now on. This means the Sony exclusive will act as a notable boost for Netflix, especially now it has lost some major drawcards (namely The Office, Friends, and some Marvel and Pixar titles). This should soothe fractious investors, as well as add value for Sony, which (to date) has no streaming service of its own.
Output deals have been an economic cornerstone for studios for decades and can be incredibly lucrative for the suppliers. Yet Netflix’s default domination of the streaming industry through lack of competitors is at an end, and new pay-1 windows have grown complicated with so many new entrants to the streaming market. Paramount, which has also sold off many older titles to streaming entities lately, has re-upped with Epix, so the premium network will have exclusive rights before titles shift to Paramount+
It’s a very different landscape from the one in which Sony and Starz renewed their deal in 2013, and no doubt it will look different again when the new Sony and Netflix deal expires in the future. The streaming industry has evolved with frightening rapidity and is only set to grow through the next few years. It will be interesting to see how new deals adapt themselves to this shifting landscape as we go forward. BLAKE & WANG P.A, as always, will be there to help you navigate the entertainment landscape.
Martin is working on the next series, “The Winds of Winter,” which is the sixth installment of A Song of Ice and Fire series.
In the year of 2005, Lev Grossman of Time called George by the name “American Tolkien,” and in 2011, he was included on the Times 100 list of the most influential people.
He was sad and frustrated that due to limitations of the budget in TV-related production, he was forced to cut characters and trim battle scenes.
In the previous series, A Dance with Dragons covered significantly less story than Martin thought, which excluded one extensive battle sequence.
He said the story had been told to its viewers for 20 years that “Winter is coming.” The phrase indicates that winter is that time when things die, and the world would fill with the cold and ice, which is not going to be happy for some characters.Martin also confirmed that The Winds of Winter would be based on point-of-view of some characters, namely Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Arianne Martell, Aeron Grejoy, Theon Greyjoy, Victarion Greyjoy, Tyrion Lannister, and Barristan Selmy.
Until now we saw, Sam finally became a maester himself after spending a lot of time in Citadel.
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