Warner Bros. drops entire movies for free on YouTube
What's the story
In a surprising move, Warner Bros. Entertainment has made over 30 of its full-length films available for free streaming on its official YouTube channel.
The selection includes a mix of dated hits, cult classics, and notorious flops from various eras.
Notably, most of these films are not available on Warner Bros.'s own streaming platform, Max.
The reason behind this unexpected decision remains unclear.
Film assortment
A diverse selection of films now available for free
The films that can now be streamed for free on YouTube span a range of genres and decades.
Some of the notable titles include Michael Collins (1996), Waiting for Guffman (1996), The Mission (1986), and Deathtrap (1982).
The list also includes flops like 2000's Dungeons & Dragons movie, Bobcat Goldthwait's Hot to Trot (1988), and Eddie Murphy's The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002).
Other notable additions include Marlon Brando's Mutiny on the Bounty and David Byrne's True Stories.
Content shift
Warner Bros.'s previous content strategy and new direction
This move by Warner Bros. marks a departure from its previous content strategy under CEO David Zaslav, who has been known for removing shows and movies from the company's catalog.
Notably, projects like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme were canceled before their release/streaming availability, despite being in the final stages of production.
The decision to offer free films on YouTube could be a change in direction for the company after all that.
Monetization efforts
Warner Bros.'s history of monetizing its film library
With a century-old legacy, Warner Bros. has a massive film library and has always looked for ways to monetize it without spending much.
In 2009, it launched the Warner Archive Collection, letting consumers order DVDs and Blu-rays on demand.
The service later explored streaming and even let users download video files directly at one point.
However, not all films from this collection made it to Max.
Some of the free movies aren't available in India, but still most are.