Can the Star Wars Films be Rented and Streamed Online?
With the worldwide theatrical premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens just a mere three days away on December 17 and 18, many fans have been looking to get caught up on the previous six Star Wars films, but they seem to be running into a small problem…
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Unless you want to purchase all six Star Wars films, then you are out of luck. Especially if you are looking to get caught-up on the Star Wars saga before you go to watch The Force Awakens, this weekend. Looking at streaming services like Amazon Prime, one would need to digitally purchase the Star Wars saga bundle for the hefty sum of $89.99. Over at iTunes, you will lighten your wallet to the same tune (pardon the terribly intentional pun) of $89.99.
If you stream your movies through your gaming console, Xbox One (Microsoft Store) has the Star Wars bundle at a staggering $94.99, while at Playstation (Sony Online Store) the price is even higher, coming in at $99.99. What about Netflix? There are currently no Star Wars films available for streaming, unless you count the animated series The Clone Wars, which is excellent in its own right…but not the films. Our friends at Netflix Life have the details regarding Netflix and Star Wars, and what it means to live in Canada when The Force Awakens is released for rental.
"“As you might have heard, Netflix and Disney struck a deal to bring Star Wars: The Force Awakens to Netflix Canada in 2016, according to Variety. It hasn’t been determined if more of the movies will hit Netflix Canada, but it’s the only Netflix region that will stream The Force Awakens, which hits theaters on Dec. 18.”"
So, unless you already own the Star Wars cinematic collection already, or if you are willing to drop nearly $100 to digitally download it, you won’t be streaming/renting any of the Star Wars films, for the foreseeable future. In my opinion, this is a major oversight for Disney/Lucasfilm who’ve up to now, have done an absolute brilliant job of marketing and rebranding the Star Wars name.
Next: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Cast List
Back on September 4th, a marketing campaign called Journey to the Force Awakens began, and the Star Wars brand-name was spread globally. However, not making the Star Wars films easily accessible through popular streaming sites like Amazon Prime, Netflix, iTunes, or gaming consoles like Xbox and Playstation, has to have made some sort of negative impact on Disney, itself. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens looking to make a profit calculated in the billions, allowing the previous films to be streamed/rented online, would only help the company reach those astronomical numbers.