Here’s How The Netflix/Epix/Hulu News Will Affect Your Streaming Routine

By Olivia Armstrong @itslivarmstrong
Published Sep. 1, 2015, 12:30 p.m. ET

Netflix subscribers have been in a frenzy ever since the news broke that the streaming giant is allowing its contract with EPIX Movies to expire at the end of September. Anticipating this freakout, Netflix’s Content Officer Ted Sarandos proactively wrote a blog post on Sunday that attempted to explain why the he’s willing to let popular films like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Wolf of Wall Street, and World War Z disappear from the service. His carefully crafted post detailed the business rationale behind the move—lack of Netflix exclusivity, “drawn out licensing periods,” et. al—but mainly tried to preach patience to subscribers pissed that Katniss and Optimus are heading elsewhere. Spin aside, what’s the REAL deal with this move?

Let’s start with the basics. Epix, for the unfamiliar, bundles product from the film studios Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM for public consumption. It’s available as a premium channel with most cable providers, but more importantly, serves as a middle man to SVOD services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and more. Their goal is to license their blockbuster films for the most amount of money possible.

Netflix, on the other hand, has been shifting their business away from catalog titles and towards producing exclusive content (a la HBO) for some time now. Or, as Variety’s Todd Spangler put it, “Netflix decided a while ago it doesn’t want sloppy seconds to pay TV.” Sarandos also said as much in his post, albeit much more diplomatically:

“We hear from our members that you wish we had newer movies. So do we. Studio licensing practices means it often takes more than a year before consumers can watch a theatrically released movie when and how they want. Just like we’ve changed the game for TV watchers by releasing entire seasons around the world at the same time, we have begun making movies that will premiere on Netflix globally and in some cases, simultaneously in theaters.”

In short, Netflix is continuing to move into the realm of original film production as they have television, the latter of which has garnered them numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations (and a few wins). Netflix streaming is essentially acknowledging that, in the near term, it stinks you won’t be able to watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but shifting focus to the not too distant future, you’ll soon be able to feast on cool movies exclusive to Netflix subscribers. Some of these original titles (some of which will appear theatrically the same day they’re released on the service) include Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation, Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous Six, the Weinsteins’ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Green Legend, and Judd Apatow-produced Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. Is that a net gain for Netflix subscribers? Netflix is betting that you’ll say “Yes.”

But, realistically, the answer for some of you will be “No.” After all, there’s a reason that franchises like Mission:Impossible and The Hunger Games and Transformers keep churning out sequels — people love these movies!. If this is the case for you, don’t fret; as it turns out, you’ll be able to watch these flicks elsewhere, most notably Hulu. They seized the opportunity teed up by Netflix and snatched away the streaming rights to Epix’s blockbusters. According to Hulu, this means that the very same titles that are expiring from Netflix this September will make their way over “in the coming months,” beginning October 1. This caps off an a fairly impressive summer for Hulu, who in just four months, acquired the complete series of Seinfeld, ventured further into the original series realm with Difficult People and landed a partnership with Showtime.

But don’t count Netflix out for non-original acquisitions just yet. In addition to dropping the Epix deal in order to find their own original films, the streaming service’s long gestating deal with Disney will finally come to light in 2016. According to Forbes, the Disney deal will not only give Netflix access to the vast majority of the Disney’s unrivaled library, but will also Netflix “first-run streaming rights” for Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm productions beginning eight months after their theatrical runs — that includes Finding Dory, Doctor Strange, and Star Wars: Episode VIII among others. Media anaylst Rich Greenfield of BTIG breaks down the release dates of each below. Note that these dates are reflective of the films’ theatrical runs, so count eight months in the future and you’ll have an idea of when you can stream them on Netflix.

While the short-term disappointment in the Epix fallout is still fresh, it appears as if Netflix is willing to suffer some short term losses while they keep their eye on the long-term prize. If you think about it, in this situation, everyone sort of wins: Netflix secures a major win for the future with Disney and Hulu gains credentials in the eyes of members (and potential members) by expanding their acquired library with Epix properties. If you don’t have a Hulu subscription just yet, however, don’t worry: you still have some time left to binge through some of those expiring movies on Netflix.

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