Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment have hammered an industry-first $7 billion-plus worldwide Pay-1 licensing deal for the latter’s movies which will stream on the OTT service around the globe following their full theatrical and home entertainment windows. The big deal here is the overseas portion of the pay-1 deal. Sony movies will no longer be split up among myriad parties in their offshore pay-1 window. Netflix and Sony didn’t provide financial terms on the deal.
The new global pact isn’t a shocker: Sony movies such as Anyone But You and It Ends With Us have continually been among Netflix’s top 10 most-watched in any given moment; not to mention the streamer had Sony Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters as a first-run title on the service; their most watched movie at half billion views and also their first No. 1 box office hit ($19M) in theaters. Similar to the previous Sony-Netflix pay-1 deal, the streamer will continue to license rights to select SPE feature film and television library titles.
Word was that Sony was pursuing an offshore pay-1 deal with Amazon, but Netflix stepped up here in a major way; this deal a continuation of the domestic and partial offshore pay-1 deal that the streamer had with Sony, first hatched in 2022 at a value of $2.5 billion over five years.
Netflix currently has Pay-1 rights to SPE’s feature films in select territories including the U.S., Germany, and across Southeast Asia. Hit films from the current deal include Uncharted, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, It Ends With Us, Anyone But You, and Venom: The Last Dance.
The new global Pay-1 arrangement will roll out gradually starting later this year as individual territory rights become available, with full global availability on Netflix in early 2029 and continue through 2032. We understand that the rate card for Sony titles is worth 40% more across the board compared to the first deal. A bulk of that 40% comes the massive increase comes from international.
Some of the first SPE movies that will play on Netflix as part of the new deal include the Dakota and Elle Fanning movie The Nightingale, Sony Pictures Animation’s Buds; Nintendo’s live-action The Legend of Zelda; Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and Sam Mendes’ upcoming quartet of Beatles films.
As Netflix continues to move forward in its acquisition of Warner Bros motion picture and TV studios as well as HBO Max, this new deal with Sony could serve as proof to government regulators that the streamer continues to license product from third-parties.
The Sony deal on Netflix is alongside that of Netflix and Universal’s U.S. Pay-1B window deal (commencing in 2027) which was announced in October 2024. That was a renewal of the licensing deal for Universal, DreamWorks Animation and Illumination animated titles, as well as Uni and Focus’ live-action titles following their run on Peacock post theatrical and PVOD. That deal gives Netflix exclusive rights to Uni titles no later than eight months following theatrical release, for what’s a 10-month exclusive window on Netflix.
“Our members all over the world love movies and giving them exclusive access to Sony’s much loved films adds incredible value to their subscriptions,” said Lauren Smith, VP of Licensing and Programming Strategy at Netflix. “Sony’s impressive slate of iconic film franchises like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and originals like Anyone But You have been popular with our U.S. audience and now we’re excited to expand that offering to our members all around the world.”
“Our partnership with Netflix has always been incredibly valuable,” said Paul Littmann, EVP of Global Distribution, Sony Pictures Television. “This new Pay-1 deal takes that partnership to the next level and reinforces the enduring appeal of our theatrical releases to Netflix’s global audience. It also further underscores the strength of our independence and unique ability to create meaningful opportunities that benefit our creative stakeholders, consumers, and world-class partners.”
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