Further showing its support for India, Amazon has today signed up yet another big time production studio for its streaming service in India. The e-commerce giant has inked an exclusive long-term deal with Lionsgate to bring some of its most prominent movie & series titles to Amazon Prime Video. These content pieces won’t become available on satellite or pay television and will exclusively exist only on the video streaming platform.
Under this partnership, Lionsgate has been oh-so-generous to make their recent award-winning movie releases such as La La Land, Deepwater Horizon, The Divergent Series: Allegiant available on the subscription-based streaming platform. Lionsgate’s upcoming 2017 releases — Power Rangers, The Shack, and others will also become available to Amazon Prime members under this partnership.
Commenting on the partnership, Nitesh Kripalani, director and country head, Amazon Prime Video India says,
It is awesome that Lionsgate has partnered with Amazon Prime Video to bring its original, daring and highly acclaimed content to Indian customers. We know our Prime members are going to absolutely love the selection of award-winning films, indelible characters and unforgettable stories from edge-of-the-seat thrillers to spectacular action to heartfelt drama – in true Lionsgate style. Their prestigious and prolific library of motion picture and television titles is sure to produce sizable viewership for us.
Also, popular movie franchises such as Step Up, Red, The Twilight Saga, and the Saw series along with hit TV shows such as Nashville, The Royals, and Graves among others are also being added to Amazon India’s Prime Video collection. This deal is also said to include all-time favorites — Mad Men and Anger Management as well.
Jim Packer, president worldwide TV and digital distribution, Lionsgate also comments on the partnership saying,
Our collaboration with Amazon Prime Video India is the latest example of our commitment to bring world-class, award-winning movies and television series to the Indian market and its viewers. We’re very pleased to partner with Amazon as they continue to transform the face of entertainment in India and bring our premium film and television content to their viewers.
In addition to securing local content deals, Amazon is steadily also securing rights to video content from the West and adding them to their collection here in India. Amazon has signed on Dharma Productions and T-Series, who is ready to make a television debut in the coming months, to its exclusive partner roster.
It has also partnered with filmmaker SS Rajamouli, Graphic India, and Arka Mediaworks to spin-off the blockbuster Bollywood movie, ‘Baahubali’, into a multi-episode animated series called ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’. And that’s not it, the company has also brought on board Green Gold Animation to bring exclusive kid-friendly animated content to their video streaming service as well. Currently, it is also exploring opportunities to add live sports streaming, including IPL broadcasting rights, to Prime Video.
After months of speculations, Amazon Prime Video made its official debut in India on 14 December 2016.
