For quite some time now, Disney has been ahead of a lot of the major studios in terms of Digital movie content. For the past three years, the company's Disney Movies Anywhere service has offered an easy way for purchasers to literally access movies anywhere, thanks to a cloud-based service that allows you to connect on pretty much any device you are using. Apparently, the other Hollywood studios are now looking to get into the same game, and this week Movies Anywhere has announced it will be the service to do it.
Basically, the functionality of Movies Anywhere will be pretty similar to Disney Movies Anywhere. The Disney-owned service is apparently even using the same structure (called Keychest) and will include Disney titles. The difference is the additional content that will be involved. The new service will include movies from Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, and Twentieth Century Fox. It is widely expected to push the current Digital model for most movies, UltraViolet, onto the backburner, simply because the functionality for Movies Anywhere should theoretically be better.
The difference between UltraViolet and Movies Anywhere should be pretty easy to discern. UltraViolet's digital locker service has been hampered due to some of the big players refusing to participate, so the movies accessed through UltraViolet can only be viewed on some devices and through some services. Per The Verge, Movies Anywhere will be supported fairly universally. Users will be able to access the content via Apple iOS, Apple TV, Android, Android TV, Amazon Fire devices, Roku and through Google Play. It should prove to offer much more unlimited viewing of content from many of the major studios. Plus, it will include the ability to download titles for places where streaming isn't an option and the ability to support multiple accounts if you want some titles kept away from the kids.
Obviously, right now not every studio has signed on. Some big studios, like Paramount and Lionsgate, have not been initial adopters, but according to reports talks are still going on, and potentially this will be the Digital service most major studios will be using in the coming years. Deadline says that Lionsgate specifically seems supportive of the initiative, so things could be changing over sooner rather than later on that front.
To find out more about how to connect and sync, you just need to head over to the Movies Anywhere site, where a slew of new releases are already listed as being available. Currently, 7,300 titles will be able to be accessed through Movies Anywhere, and the service is enticing users by offering titles upon purchase, like the new Ghostbusters and Ice Age. A second Digital sign-up will also give access to Big Hero 6, Jason Bourne and The Lego Movie. If this service seems ideal to you, you can also take a look at what is headed to Digital this month.
