iTunes movie repertoire builds with Lionsgate addition

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 13 February 2007 11:34

Your IT - Home IT

First there was just Disney, then Paramount joined the fold, and now leading independent film studio Lionsgate has added its impressive list of movie titles to the Apple iTunes store in a deal announced today.

When Apple launched movie downloads on iTunes in September 2006, as predicted by many the only studio to come on board was the Steve Jobs connected Disney, with a relatively paltry collection of 100 movie titles.

Then, however, Jobs proudly announced at the Macworld Expo that Paramount, with an additional 150 titles in its kit bag, had signed on to join the iTunes stable. One could feel that the cracks were beginning to appear in the dam of resistance from movie studios to iTunes movie downloads.

Now, with an additional 150 titles, including action favorites from Arnold Schwarzenegger such as Terminator 2 and Total recall, iTunes has a respectable choice of 400 movie titles on offer and good prospects of other studios joining the fold soon.

"We're delighted to offer these incredibly popular Lionsgate films on iTunes, and look forward to adding even more films in the future," said Steve Beeks, president of Lionsgate. "iTunes lets users download these wonderful films to watch on their computer, TV or iPod, so movie fans can take their favorite Lionsgate films with them anywhere."

"The iTunes Store is by far the most popular online movie store in the world," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We're thrilled to be adding this phenomenal collection of Lionsgate titles from Hollywood's leading independent studio, including such blockbusters as 'Terminator 2.'"