More mainstream movies for Netflix online

Netflix Inc. moved one step closer to delivering on the promise its name implies: providing movies via the Internet.

The Los Gatos company struck a deal with  premium movie service Starz Entertainment that will allow Netflix subscribers to watch such mainstream movies as "Spider-Man 3," "Ratatouille, "No Country for Old Men" and "Superbad" on demand online.

The agreement represents a milestone for Netflix, whose online film offerings have, until this point, been limited to what would be charitably described as "niche" offerings, heavy on sophomoric humor ("National Lampoon's Pledge This!"),  horror ("BloodRayne II: Deliverance") and art-house fare ("My Summer of Love").

That's because the premium cable services -- HBO, Showtime and Starz -- pay big money to lock the rights to distribute Hollywood movies, once they've left theaters and been released on DVD. These contracts keep recent releases off fledgling Internet movie services once they enter this exclusivity period, known as the pay-TV window.

"We have 100,00 movies on DVD and 12,000 movies to stream," said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, noting the disparity between the company's physical and digital catalogs. "The biggest gap is television exclusivity."

The Starz agreement helps to narrow that gap. Netflix subscribers who have unlimited plans, which start at $8.99 a month, gain access to the 2,500 movies and other video offerings from Starz as part of the package.

"This solves a huge problem for Netflix, because so much of the criticism about the instant-watch feature is it's just cruddy content," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for researcher Parks Associates.

The streamed Hollywood offerings, however, are limited to two major studios: Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures. Netflix's online service won't have access to movies from Warner Bros., Fox, Paramount or Universal because they have deals with other cable services.

Sony just says no to cancer charity donation

As the producer of the highly profitable "Spider-Man" franchise, Laura Ziskin has helped make Sony Pictures zillions over the last six years from the three superhero movies that amassed $2.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales, not to mention tens of millions more in DVD, merchandising and television proceeds.

But when Ziskin asked Sony to contribute money to her Stand Up to Cancer fundraiser, her home studio turned down her pitch. If Major League Baseball could pitch in $10 million, surely Sony along with the other Hollywood studios could collectively match that, figured Ziskin, herself a breast cancer survivor.

"We hoped that because we were an entertainment industry endeavor that the studios would have made a big financial donation, but they didn't," says Ziskin, who worked for more than a year with a group of women that included CBS News anchor Katie Couric and former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing to pull off a star-studded one-hour prime-time telethon with Meryl Streep, Jack Black, James Taylor, Lance Armstrong and other celebs that was simultaneously broadcast Sept. 5 by ABC, NBC and CBS.

In the show's early planning stages, Ziskin met with Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton and movie boss Amy Pascal to ask if the studio could provide her with technical support and manpower. No problema, they said. But, when it came to her request for Sony to write a check to the charity -- problema.

"The studio chose not to give money, but we tried to be as helpful as we could by giving Laura office space and all the technical support she needed to make the event successful," Lynton said when asked about the incident.

So, let's get this straight. The studio that just announced that it hopes to make two more "Spider-Man" sequels, which will easily cost more than $500 million in production costs, can't spare a cool couple million for a worthy cause?

Though disappointed, Ziskin says she was very grateful that Sony "supported me totally in the endeavor," giving her not only offices, camera equipment and other in-kind contributions including support in helping build the charity's website, but also time off from making movies for a year to put the show together. "That was no small thing," she says.

'Spider-Man 4' aiming for May 2011 release

Peter Parker is swinging back into the muliplex—but not for a while.

“Spider-Man” producer Laura Ziskin said the fourth installment in the web-slinging superhero series is tentatively scheduled to arrive in May 2011.

In remarks Thursday to theater owners from California and Nevada, Ziskin said there was no finished screenplay, but that she and Sony Pictures were hopeful “Spider-Man 4” could be ready in three years’ time.

The first three movies comprise one of the most successful franchises in modern Hollywood history, grossing a combined $2.5 billion worldwide. Neither star Tobey Maguire nor director Sam Raimi is yet committed to work on the next installment. But Sony has paid Marvel to renew its rights.

Before  she tackles the next “Spider-Man,” Ziskin is producing a one-hour fundraiser for cancer research that will be shown commercial-free on ABC, NBC and CBS on Sept. 5.

Ziskin, a cancer survivor, showed the several hundred exhibitors a new theatrical public service announcement directed by David Fincher (“Fight Club”) that promotes Ziskin’s cancer cause, Stand Up to Cancer.

--John Horn

Image: Courtesy Columbia Pictures