AMC has announced the launch of a new on-demand movie streaming service that will compete with Apple’s iTunes Store, Amazon Prime Video, and others. The new service will allow viewers to rent and buy movies once the films’ theater runs end.
The New York Times reports the service launches today, and will boast a catalog of over 2,000 films. New releases will be added at the end of their theatrical release. AMC is the first U.S.-based theater chain to offer such a service.
The theater chain has signed deals with Disney, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Paramount to sell and rent both old and new films over the new video-on-demand service. Films can be rented for between $3 and $5.99 each, and purchased for between $9.99 and $19.99 each.
The Times reports the new service aims to benefit from AMC Stubs, the theater chain’s customer loyalty program that launched last year, and already includes over 20 million households.
AMC Stubs members bought about six million tickets to “The Lion King” over the summer. When “The Lion King” becomes available digitally on Tuesday, “those people will all get a personalized message from AMC saying that they can now enjoy it at home through AMC Theaters On Demand,” said Elizabeth Frank, AMC’s chief content officer.
AMC has reportedly been working on the new VOD streaming service for over 2 years, and came close to launching the service this summer, but delayed the launch to fine-tune the technology and the online store.
Device support includes Mac and PC computers in the browser, other Apple devices, Android and Roku devices, and LG televisions.
