Microsoft Becomes Disney-Owned Movies Anywhere’s Sixth Retail Partner
By Thomas K. Arnold
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – It’s official: Digital movie collection service Movies Anywhere, owned and operated by Disney, has added Microsoft Movies and TV as its sixth digital retail partner.
Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes and Walmart’s Vudu were partnered with the service at launch last October. FandangoNow, Fandango’s on-demand video service, came aboard in March .
Movies and TV is the software giant’s online video service that offers movies and TV shows for rent as well as purchase. Purchased content can be viewed on any Windows 10 or Xbox device or downloaded for future offline viewing. It is available in more than 20 countries.
Back in March, a Microsoft rep said the company was “in discussions with about bringing their service on-board.” Indications that Microsoft was imminently joining the service leaked out Monday , after the Microsoft Movies and TV logo showed up on the Movies Anywhere website.
Movies Anywhere and Microsoft are promoting their new relationship with two limited-time offers. Movies Anywhere users will get an exclusive sneak peek at a bonus feature from “Deadpool 2.” The clip, from a feature titled “Until Your Face Hurts: Alt Takes,” gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the cast collaboration that resulted in “hilarious on-set improv” and alt takes. Through Aug. 28, users who sync their account for the first time with Microsoft (or another participating digital retailer) will automatically receive a copy of 20th Century Fox and Marvel’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” in their digital movie collection.
“This launch has been highly anticipated by our most passionate movie fans, and we are very excited to bring Microsoft into the Movies Anywhere family,” Karin Gilford, GM of Movies Anywhere, said in a statement. “Movies Anywhere brings your movie collection together quickly and easily, and we’re thrilled to share this benefit with Microsoft customers.”
According to Movies Anywhere, since its launch nine months ago, consumers have stored more than 135 million movies on the app. “We are thrilled that Microsoft now supports Movies Anywhere,” said Pedro Gutierrez, director of Microsoft Movies and TV.
Movies Anywhere, which operates as a cloud-based movie collection service, offers consumers access to a library of nearly 7,500 digital movies.
Movies Anywhere includes titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Studios (encompassing Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm), Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal Pictures (including DreamWorks and Illumination Entertainment) and Warner Bros. Paramount and Lionsgate are not yet participating studios.
