Five Hollywood film studios have joined together to offer a new service designed to make it easier for consumers to collect digital movies that they can watch at home or on mobile devices, the studios said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Movies Anywhere service was developed by Walt Disney (DIS) to provide a single app and website where customers can find movies they have purchased from a variety of retailers.
Comcast’s Universal Pictures (CMCSA), Time Warner’s Warner Bros (TWX), Twenty-First Century Fox’s 20th Century Fox (FOX), and Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE) have signed on to the effort, the statement said.
Hollywood’s movie studios are looking for ways to encourage digital sales of movies after they leave theaters in order to help make up for the decline in popularity of physical DVDs.
The free Movies Anywhere service, launched in the United States on Wednesday, initially will allow users to access movies purchased from Apple’s iTunes (AAPL), Amazon.com’sAmazon Video (AMZN), Alphabet’s Google Play (GOOGL), and Walmart’s Vudu (WMT). Other retailers and studios may join in the future.