Want to watch movies? Go online and log on to Facebook.
In an article for the Internet Retailer by Zak Stambor, it has been reported that two major Hollywood studios are making certain films available for streaming on the Palo Alto, California-based social networking site. Miramax Films and Universal Pictures are taking the lead of Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures who are also distributing some of their films online.
According to the article, Miramax launched the “Miramax eXperience” which features 20 movies including hits such as “Pulp Fiction”, “Swingers”, and “Shall We Dance?” on both its Facebook page and on those of the available movies. Meanwhile, online viewers who wish to find and stream “The Big Lebowski” can visit the movie’s Facebook page. So far, it is the only film that Universal Pictures is streaming.
Both movie studios charge consumers 30 Facebook Credits which is equivalent to $3 in Facebook’s virtual currency. Purchased films can be viewed for up to 48 hours after clicking on Play. Miramax notes that the application is still in beta testing. According to the company’s blog, their goal is to emulate Facebook in the sense that they did not want to wait for the app to be “perfect” before launching it. The strategy is to “launch, and then iterate, iterate and iterate again.” For Universal’s part, users who rent the film get a 10 Facebook Credit discount to 10 friends to rent the movie on the social network.
In related social media news, Netflix is also under negotiations with Facebook for a possible integration that will “further the notion of a personal Netflix account.”
