A basic cable network and streaming service are partnering up for the first time with FX and Hulu’s new agreement to secure the rights to Lionsgate’s theatrical output beginning in 2020. Under the two-year deal, Lionsgate films produced in 2020 and 2021—including “I Still Believe,” the story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp and Chris Rock’s untitled “Saw” spinoff—will be streamed on Hulu and given linear airings on FX.
While the partnership with Hulu and FX replaces the long-standing deal the studio had with Epix, it does not affect the films released under the studio’s Summit Entertainment label. Those films—which include additions to the John Wick franchise—will continue to be put out through Lionsgate’s separate deal with HBO.
This move demonstrates the continuous growth of Hulu. In 2017, Hulu signed its first major film output licensing agreement when it partnered with Annapurna Pictures, for a multi-year exclusive output deal, bringing movies such as Academy-Award nominee, “Vice”, Katherine Bigelow’s “Detroit” and Maria Semple’s “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” exclusively to its platform after their theatrical releases. Now under the Disney umbrella, Hulu also announced in May that it will be bring two new live-action series, “Marvel’s Ghost Rider” and “Marvel’s Helstrom” to its viewers in 2020 courtesy of Marvel Television.
Insiders close to the Hulu and FX deal say that once the agreement expires, Lionsgate plans to license the movies to its own cable channel, Starz and the Starz streaming service, but until then, Hulu subscribers can enjoy the content.