Unlike many of their competitors in the big movie studio world, Sony Pictures does not have its own streaming service. Previously, Sony movies went to Starz for streaming, following a deal between the two companies. Starting in 2022, however, Sony will be uploading its movies to Netflix instead; the streaming service would get “an exclusive 18-month window for Sony films.”
For Netflix subscribers, that means they’ll get the first crack (after playing the movies in theaters) at titles like Morbius starring Jared Leto as the Marvel Comics vampire, the Unexplored movie, and the next one Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. (Netflix already had an agreement with Sony Pictures Animation and recently acquired its film, The Mitchells against the machines, for a direct-to-Netflix version.) According to the press release, Netflix will also be granted the rights to “select titles from SPE’s vast film library.” In addition, the service gets the first dibs on ‘all movies [Sony] intends to do directly for streaming or decides later to obtain a license for streaming. Last year, Sony sold a few of its theatrical titles slated for the pandemic, including Doggy style, with Tom Hanks, which premiered on Apple TV + instead.
With most of the big studios now powering movies on their own streaming platforms – like Disney +, Paramount +, HBO Max (Warner Bros.) and Peacock (Universal), the rights to the few remaining available blockbusters get even bigger. precious. Through its deal with Marvel, Sony has the rights to Spider-Man and its entire library of related characters – which, through that deal, gives Netflix the Diffusion rights to these characters as well, at least until Sony decides to launch its own “Sony +” or whatever.
Gallery – Every Spider-Man Movie, Ranked Worst To Best: