Movies Anywhere was first launched on February 25, 2014 as Disney Movies Anywhere(DMA), with content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars-branded films on iOS with iTunes Store integration. On October 12, 2017, DMA was relaunched as Movies Anywhere, with other studios joining Disney in offering their film titles through the platform. The service has since been extended to other platforms and storefronts, including Amazon Video, Google TV (formerly Google Play Movies & TV), Microsoft Movies & TV, and Fandango at Home (formerly FandangoNow and Vudu), along with subscribers of DirecTV, Xfinity, and Verizon Fios TV services.
Until July 2019, Movies Anywhere was a competitor to the UltraViolet platform that was deployed by other major film studios; Disney declined to back the platform in favor of promoting KeyChest as an alternative. On January 31, 2019, the consortium behind UltraViolet (DECE) announced that it would shut down its services on July 31, 2019. The studios remaining with UltraViolet, including MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Lionsgate, did not move and switch over to Movies Anywhere.[3]
History
In 2009, Disney unveiled a rights synchronization platform known as KeyChest, which would allow content purchases via digital distribution platforms to be queried and used to build a centralized library. The company explained that this system would allow "persistent" access to purchased content across multiple digital platforms, including television set-top boxes and mobiles.[4][5][6][7][8] The platform was viewed as being a competitor to UltraViolet, a competing concept developed by DECE, a consortium containing all other major U.S. film studios but Disney.[8][9]
Disney Movies Anywhere originally launched on February 25, 2014, as an iOS app that allows users to link Disney films purchased on iTunes Store into a unified library with digital copies of Disney films purchased on physical media, so that they can be streamed or downloaded. The user's Apple ID was linked with a Disney account. The app also allowed users to browse through a catalog of Disney films available on iTunes Store, access supplemental content such as interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, and participate in the Disney Movie Rewards program.[10] Walt Disney Studios CTO Jamie Voris explained that the app was designed to provide a "rich, interactive experience" around its content as an alternative to "utilitarian" online stores and that Disney planned to seek additional retail partners for the service in the future.[10]
In September 2017, DMA ceased support for Microsoft Movies & TV, with future purchases no longer automatically accessible through the linked library.[16]
Expansion to third-party studios
On October 10, 2017, it was reported that the DMA platform would expand to include content from non-Disney studios under the name Movies Anywhere, with 20th Century Fox (which was eventually acquired by Disney in 2019, which would be renamed in January 2020 as 20th Century Studios), Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures serving as initial partners, and Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer expressing interest.[17] It would also include titles from Disney's Hollywood Pictures and Touchstone Pictures banners that were previously unavailable on DMA. The DMA platform was relaunched on October 12, 2017. The Verge felt that the new platform could be used to replace the commercially unsuccessful UltraViolet platform (which Disney did not support).[9] Despite not being available in the country, the service's new logo drew the attention of Australian users for resembling that of the public broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The logo consists of a combination of the letters M and A, while the ABC's logo is based on the Lissajous curve.[18][19]
At CES 2018, General Manager Karin Gilford announced that consumers’ accounts had accumulated nearly 80 million films.[20] On February 28, 2018, Disney Movies Anywhere was shut down, with content and accounts migrated to Movies Anywhere.[21] Support for FandangoNow was added on March 13, 2018 (Fandango acquired Vudu and merged the service into it in August 2021),[22][23] with talks also resuming between Movies Anywhere and Microsoft Movies & TV.[24] By then, there were more than 100 million films in consumer accounts.[25]
On August 6, 2018, it was announced that Microsoft Movies & TV would be rejoining the Movies Anywhere service. By then, the number of films in customer accounts had grown to more than 135 million.[26][27] In October 2018, Verizon joined the service, followed by Comcast (owner of Universal Pictures) in December.[28][29]
On January 31, 2019, Ultraviolet announced that it would terminate its services on July 31, 2019, owing to increased support for Movies Anywhere.[30][31] While Lionsgate and Paramount dropped out of that service in July and December 2018, they have not made any transition to Movies Anywhere. MGM, the remaining studio that continued to utilize Ultraviolet, also did not transition to Movies Anywhere (although some co-productions with other studios are available on Movies Anywhere).[citation needed]
In March 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic,[32] Movies Anywhere began to add features allowing digital sharing of purchases.[32] That month, "Screen Pass" entered closed beta, which allowed users to share up to three films per month and gave recipients 14 days to watch each shared film. Once a film is played from Screen Pass, recipients are then given a 72-hour window to finish the film. Screen Pass was officially released in September 2020.[33][34] In July 2020, the service also added "Watch Together".[32] Both features were discontinued on May 1, 2023.[3] In August 2020, DirecTV became the first satellite TV provider to join the Movies Anywhere platform.[35]
