Online movie subscription service Lovefilm has signed an exclusive agreement with Icon Film Distribution. It means that Lovefilm will be the only streamed service in the UK that will have access to Icon’s 2010 release slate.
Titles include the multi Academy Award nominated Precious, The Road (starring Viggo Mortensen), Edge of Darkness (starring Mel Gibson and Ray Winstone) and A Single Man (directed by Tom Ford and starring Colin Firth), among others.
“The fact that film producers and distributors like Icon are beginning to choose Lovefilm as the home for their top titles is a huge endorsement of the popularity of Lovefilm’s streaming service,” said Lovefilm CEO Simon Calver.
Lovefilm is increasingly moving from its through-the-post model to online distribution that includes direct-to-TV through Samsung and Sony enabled devices and most recently PlayStation 3. The question is whether this perceived exclusivity is enough when subscribers may also have access to pay-TV platforms such as Sky or Virgin that will not be covered by the exclusivity agreement.
