Warner Bros. to Distribute 600 Paramount Movies on Home Video

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has gained exclusive rights to physical Blu-ray and DVD distribution of more than 600 Paramount catalog titles, it was announced Thursday. The studio also will make Paramount’s UltraViolet offerings available on a nonexclusive basis through Flixster, Warner’s movie streaming and discovery service.

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“Flixster provides access to the leading movie discovery application that will promote digital content ownership and aid in expanding our digital business. At the same time, on the physical side, this agreement enables us to manage our profitability in a time of change in the marketplace and to focus more resources on new releases,” said Dennis Maguire, president of Paramount Home Media Distribution.

The agreement also grants Warner Bros. manufacturing, on-demand rights and the right to include an UltraViolet digital copy bundled with packaged media. Paramount retains digital rights for their titles, including electronic sell-through, VOD and subscription video-on-demand. Flixster will offer, on a nonexclusive basis, Paramount titles for sale in UltraViolet EST format, UltraViolet disc-to-digital and VOD. Flixster will also act as an UltraViolet locker access provider for Paramount UltraViolet titles and as a redemption site for Paramount UltraViolet copies.

The three-year deal, which takes effect Jan. 1, covers U.S. and Canadian rights and includes titles such as Terms of Endearment, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Airplane! The agreement excludes about 100 cornerstone Paramount titles, including the Transformers, Star Trek and Indiana Jones franchises.

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Under the same terms, Warner will have access to select new titles after the initial 26-week release period.

“These Paramount catalog titles are the perfect complement to the Warner Bros. library; they will allow us to offer consumers new multifeature film packages and debut many titles on Blu-ray for the first time,” said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video.