LOS ANGELES — Netflix is snatching away several movies a year that would have gone to pay-TV outlets such as HBO or Showtime under a deal with film financier Relativity Media announced Tuesday.
The deal, worth more than $100 million per year, highlights Netflix’s strategy to migrate customers from ordering DVDs by mail to accessing them online over personal computers, game consoles, Blu-ray players, mobile devices and TVs.
Relativity plans to supply 12 to 15 films per year starting in early 2011, although the deal accommodates up to 30, with Netflix paying per movie. The initial movies include “The Fighter,” starring Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams, and “Season of the Witch,” starring Nicolas Cage. Both movies are set to hit theaters later this year.
Netflix’s online streaming service already offers newer movies from Walt Disney and Sony through a 2-year-old deal with the cable channel Starz Entertainmen. The Associated Press
