Sky Movies Becoming Sky Cinema, With New Premieres Everyday!
Sky’s movie channels are changing the company announced today, with the launch of Sky Cinema on 8th July 2016.
Sky Cinema will replace Sky Movies in the UK & Ireland, and the broadcaster claims this will bring even more of the biggest and best movies closer to cinema release than any other subscription service. All available live, on demand or on the go, and at no additional cost to the existing Sky Movies subscription. Additionally, HD films will be served as standard to all Sky Cinema customers on the Sky and Virgin Media platforms.
Key Improvements for Sky+HD and Sky Q include:
- New, improved HD as standard
- Even better sound quality, closer to the cinema experience, for on demand films
- New tools to help customers watch and find their favourite films including the ‘Restart’ feature which means customers can watch films from the very beginning no matter what point they switch on
- Sky Q customers can look forward to Ultra HD films by the end of the year
The improved service will feature a new premiere every single day of the week, which is a 75% increase on the four per week offered by Sky Movies.
Upcoming films include Spectre (8 July), Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (9 July), Steve Jobs (18 September), Bridge of Spies (30 September) and The Danish Girl (23rd October) will all premiere in the first few months alone. The Jungle Book, Zootopia and Captain America: Civil War are set to headline Sky’s most ambitious Christmas movie collection yet.
Major films are available just 8 months after cinema release, and can be watched exclusively on Sky Cinema for over a year before you can watch them on any other subscription service. 45 of the top 50 films at the UK Box Office in 2015 are exclusive to Sky Movies.
For those of you with a wider taste for world cinema, it’s not only about blockbusters. Customers can enjoy more of the best stories from around the world with a dedicated new ‘World Cinema’ slot every Wednesday from 10pm. Some of the critically-acclaimed films coming up include: El Ardor (Argentina); Theeb (UAE); Tangerines (Estonia) and many more.
Sky are also expanding their film library, with around 1,200 films available to view on demand. An increase of 20% over the current Sky Movies system. More than half of all the films watched on Sky are on demand with one billion downloads or streams in the last two years alone.
Sky is now the exclusive home of Star Wars (although I suspect most of you reading this already have them on disc!), adding Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in August 2016, with Rogue One coming August 2017 and Episode VIII in August 2018.
Sky Cinema will also be the home of Superheroes. Sky Cinema will feature all the latest instalments in the DC Comic and Marvel Universes such as Captain America: Civil War, Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad due to hit screens over the next couple of years along with all the latest films from the X-Men and Spider-man franchises.
“With Sky Cinema we are giving customers an even closer to the cinema experience with enhanced picture and sound quality. However, we know the heart of the service is great movies.” said Ian Lewis, Director of Sky Cinema, Europe. “Customers want a breadth of the latest quality films to enjoy with the flexibility to watch whenever they want and on whatever device they choose. Sky Cinema builds on this commitment with even more premieres and instant access to an unrivalled library of the latest blockbusters and classic films. A better service needs a new name and Sky Cinema is about delivering the ultimate offering for movie fans everywhere.”
Sky Cinema will be the biggest dedicated movie subscription service in Europe as Sky’s movie services in Germany, Austria and Italy are also rebranded and relaunched under the new name. Further announcements are planned in those markets in the coming months.
All films will be available on 11 dedicated live channels, via on demand, or on the go through Sky Go and the dedicated Sky Cinema app. Sky Cinema is still the only subscription service that lets you download all films for offline viewing.
You can find out more about Sky Cinema here.
