Original 'Mad Max,' 'A Hard Day's Night' coming to Turner Classic Movies streaming service
LOS ANGELES -- Calling all cinephiles.
Turner Classic Movies and Criterion Collection announced their new streaming movie service -- called FilmStruck -- on Tuesday.
The ad-free service, which will launch in fall of 2016, will feature a library of over 1,000 films across genres, including contemporary and classic art house, indie, foreign and cult films.
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FilmStruck will also be the new exclusive streaming home for the critically acclaimed and award-winning Criterion Collection, which will include the Criterion Channel, a new premium service programmed and curated by the Criterion team.
The collection had previously only been available via purchase of physical copies or on Hulu, which had an exclusive deal with Criterion since 2011.
Some titles include: Seven Samurai, A Hard Day's Night, A Room With A View, Blood Simple, My Life As A Dog, Mad Max, Breaker Morant and The Player.
Pricing has not yet been announced.
The service "is the latest move in Turner's overall strategy to innovate beyond the traditional television ecosystem by providing rich viewing experiences that drive engagement across all platforms," the company said in a release Tuesday.
Turner recently formed ELEAGUE, its new eSports league created in partnership with WME and IMG (set to launch this summer); invested in Mashable; and launched CNN's Great Big Story, which combines video storytelling custom-built for social distribution with integrated advertising.
But it's already a crowded marketplace for streaming services. This year alone, four other similar offerings -- from Fullscreen, Starz, Kevin Hart with Lionsgate and Fandango -- have launched or been announced.
And that doesn't include the big 3 -- Netflix, Hulu and Amazon (now with its own standalone offering for video) -- who compete for the most subscribers.
Still, its executives are confident that film buffs with flock to this n ew service.
"At Turner, we are dedicated to engaging fans wherever they are, and we're investing aggressively in content, new capabilities and new businesses to achieve that goal," John Martin, chairman and CEO of Turner, said in a statement.
"FilmStruck is a terrific example of our strategy to meet consumer demand for great content across all screens. It's tailor-made for the diehard movie enthusiast who craves a deep, intimate experience with independent, foreign, and art house films. And it takes advantage of TCM's powerful curation capabilities, as well as its proven track record in building a long-term relationship with passionate film fans."
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Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
