In some huge news, Netflix just struck a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment that will give them exclusive rights to all Sony’s films once they leave theaters.
The New York Times reveals that the deal is set for five years and will start with the 2022 Sony movie releases.
This is a huge move, especially with other movie studios owning their own streaming services, taking moves away from Netflix.
Paramount+, Disney+, and HBO Max (Warner Bros) are three of the major streaming services that will be home to their own theatrical releases. Now, Netflix gets Sony.
New Spider-Man movies will be exclusive to Netflix starting in 2022
For Marvel fans, this means all new movies in the Spider-Man universe will be Netflix exclusive movies starting with the 2022 releases.
Most Marvel fans have noticed that Spider-Man movies are not included in the Disney+ Marvel offerings and that is because Disney is only co-producer on the films and actually Sony releases.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage comes out this year, as does Spider-Man: No Way Home, which means they are not included in this agreement.
However, Morbius, the movie based on a Spider-Man anti-hero who is a living vampire, hits early in 2022 and will be the first Spider-Man movie to go to Netflix for at least the next five years once it completes its theatrical lifeline.
Any future Spider-Man movies will also be exclusive to Netflix for the next five years, including any further Spider-Man and Venom sequels. Other movies in development include Kraven the Hunter, The Sinister Six, Madame Web, and Spider-Woman.
This also means that the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will be Netflix exclusive once it screens in theaters as well.
Other movies included in Sony/Netflix deal
The Netflix deal with Sony will also include the Tom Holland movie Uncharted, based on the video game franchise of the same name.
Other movies included in the deal are Escape Room 2 and Masters of the Universe,
Sony will move back into full time production with the pandemic slowly coming under control. The studio announced it plans to release 15 to 20 films a year for theatrical release.
During the pandemic, Sony tried to recoup losses on its movies by selling some to streaming services. The company sold Greyhound with Tom Hanks to Apple and The Mitchells vs. The Machines to Netflix.
Sony has also agreed to make two to three movies that will go straight to Netflix every year of the agreement.
“This not only allows us to bring Sony’s impressive slate of beloved film franchises and new I.P. to Netflix in the U.S., but it also establishes a new source of first-run films for Netflix movie lovers worldwide,” Netflix’s head of global films, Scott Stuber, said in a statement on Thursday.