Could Latin America be getting the chance to stream the older Star Wars films on Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX)? According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the SVOD provider is negotiating streaming rights for five of the six films with the Walt Disney Co.
The publication cited unnamed sources in the report.
A spokesperson for Netflix told FierceOnlineVideo that the company doesn't comment about negotiations.
As for why only five out of the six current Star Wars films might be under consideration, Netflix's spokesperson said that Episode 4 (that's the original film, A New Hope for the few out there who don't know) is controlled by Fox. The rights to the other films were acquired by Disney when it bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion.
Why Latin America? According to WSJ, the provider -- and Disney -- may be looking to boost awareness of the Star Wars films in the region. The Star Wars franchise is already a big moneymaker in the U.S. and sales of the films on DVD and online, along with related merchandise, are very robust, meaning there is no compelling reason, financially, for Disney to license the films for streaming here.
For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
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