Lionsgate and Univision to Launch Spanish-Language Movie Streaming Service
Lionsgate and Univision Communications, a leading media company for Hispanic America, are teaming to launch a premium subscription video on demand (SVOD) service for the Hispanic movie-going audience in the U.S.
It was announced Monday by UCI President & Chief Executive Officer Randy Falco and Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer.
Launching early next year with a deep line-up of titles, this is claimed to be the first premium SVOD movie service designed specifically for the Spanish-speaking and bilingual Hispanic consumers in the U.S.
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The service will include Spanish-language box office hits spanning the comedy, family, kids, horror and drama genres and current titles from across the Spanish-speaking world, with many available on the same date as their theatrical release in Latin American markets.
It will also encompass titles from Lionsgate’s joint venture with Televisa, Pantelion Films, and Hollywood films from Lionsgate’s 16,000-title library and other catalogs dubbed into Spanish.
Pantelion Films, the first major Hollywood Latino studio, has rights to more than 70% of the top-grossing films from Mexico over the past five years, including Instructions Not Included, Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos, and the comedy No Manches Frida.
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The service is positioned to become the leading Spanish-language premium movie offering in the U.S. The venture will capitalize on the marketing and distribution expertise of Univision, which will offer the new service to cable and satellite operators individually as well as in tandem with its own Univision NOW, a subscription service for its broadcast networks Univision and UniMas. Univision will also license titles from its classic Latino cinema library to the new service.
The new premium movie service joins a growing portfolio of Lionsgate SVOD services that already includes Tribeca Shortlist, launched with Tribeca Enterprises last fall, Comic-Con HQ, which debuted in July, and superstar Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud comedy platform which premieres early next year.
Photo courtesy: Lionsgate
