All eight films of the Harry Potter franchise will no longer be available on any streaming service.
NBC Universal, who owns the film rights, has removed all eight Harry Potter films on streaming services effective Sunday November 1. Fans have been very disappointed as they won’t be able to watch the Boy Who Lived without renting, owning a physical copy, or catching them on cable for the time being. Surely these recent developments have left fans, viewers, and subscribers in a state shock.
In 2016 NBC Universal acquired all the on-air and digital film rights of the Wizarding World franchise from Warner Media for about $250 million dollars. This purchase allowed NBC Universal to air the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films on their cable owned channels. NBC Universal controls all the Harry Potter film rights up until 2021.
Harry Potter is Too Big To Disappear
The company originally had the films on their Peacock streaming service. But now due to contractual obligations, NBC Universal’s has been asked for the films to leave streaming services in favor of Syfy Channel and other cable networks such as USA Network and NBC.
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Last May, HBO Max aired all of the Harry Potter films on its launch day. However Warner Media ultimately announced to fans that they would remove the film series in August. HBO Max was able to air the Harry Potter films for three months due to it being a last minute addition to the streaming service and was allowed to air it. Now fans can only hope that the series will be available again in any form of streaming service.
Harry Potter is one most successful media franchises of all time. The franchise is estimated to be worth $25 billion dollars. The seven novels that the film series is based on sold more than 500 million copies. They went on to spawn eight blockbuster films, with a combined gross of more than $9 billion dollars. It also currently ranks as the third highest film franchise of all-time. Add successful theme parks attractions within Universal Studios to the equation and it’s clear that the Harry Potter franchise is still strong and magical.
Does it disappoint you to not have Harry Potter at the touch of your magical remote? Let us know down in the comment section below or over on Twitter.
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Source: /Film
