The UK version of the Movies section follows the launch of the Shows section of the site, which brought full TV episodes and clips from popular TV shows such as Fifth Gear. In the U.S., Shows and Movies were launched in April 2009, with content from MGM, Lionsgate and others.
The movies currently available in the Movies section include Bollywood hits, cult classics such as Night of the Living Dead and Equinox, documentaries such as Home, and animated features, for example Alice in Wonderland and Animal Farm.
The move once again raises the question of whether or not YouTube will ever be a full-fledged competitor to Hulu, an online service which offered streaming video of TV shows and movies from NBC, Fox and ABC. According to YouTube’s Head of Video Partnerships, Donagh O’Malley, it might be, as this move is only the "first step" for YouTube. “This is one of many efforts to ensure that people can find all the different kinds of video they want to see, from bedroom vlogs and citizen journalism reports to full-length films and TV shows," O'Malley said.
Most interesting titles in YouTube Movies catalog come from YouTube's new content partnership with UK movie streaming site Blinkbox, which provided the 165 films for the new section of the site.
