Everyone is gushing about the release of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens on December 18 this year and Netflix subscribers are in for a treat.
According to netflixlife.com, the seventh installment of Star Wars film will come into Netflix in 2016 eight months after its release. However, it will only be shown in Canada and it is still not official.
Netflix is now negotiating with Disney to gain rights in showing the first five of six Star Wars installments in Latin America nut so far, Canada is the only country Netflix has rights to stream the film. Due to Disney's other partnerships with other services, Canada is the only country where any companies can gain rights on the film and it ended up with Netflix.
Netflix subscribers in the U.S will have to wait for some time before they can watch Star Wars on Netflix. Due to Disney's contract with Starz that runs until the end of the year and Star Wars: the Force Awakens will be released within the year, Starz has the rights to it.
According to variety.com, the talk about digital rights of Star Wars films started when Disney announced that they are planning to launch DisneyLife, a subscription service with its movies, books and music, and TV shows in the U.K. and across Europe. Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger said that though Star Wars and Marvel franchise are not included on the launch, the company is planning to release subscription services for each.
The possible acquisition of streaming rights for Star Wars will be a big push to the company's worldwide viewership as it plans to expand their services in some 200 countries at the end of year 2016. Though Star Wars' part seven is still a long way to go for Netflix, previous installments might be available in the near future.
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said "It's up to Disney how they want to manage access to those assets before, during or after the release of 'Star Wars VII.' So it's certainly an ongoing discussion."
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the first in a trilogy and written by Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt and J.J. Abrams while Abrams directed the film.
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