Comic-Con to develop subscription-based video streaming service

Lionsgate entered the streaming market last year by partnering with China’s Alibaba Group on a video service and working with Tribeca Enterprises for this summer’s Tribeca Shortlist, and now the movie studio is making streaming plans with Comic-Con International. The subscription-based offering will reportedly feature original short videos, Comic-Con archive footage, and movies and TV shows from Lionsgate and other studios.

Lionsgate truly took off after releasing the 2012 blockbuster Hunger Games, and since then, the Santa Monica-based studio has been actively searching for ways to expand their reach. Lionsgate revealed Thursday that they’ve been discussing the upcoming streaming service with Comic-Con for nearly two years, and the partnership between the two organizations was cemented after Lionsgate used the 2014 Comic-Con to launch the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. The reveal helped increase national interest in the convention, and passes for this July’s San Diego Comic-Con sold out a mere hour after they went on sale.

Lionsgate worked with the Alibaba Group on a video service for Alibaba’s set-top boxes last year, and also partnered with Tribeca Enterprises for the Tribeca Shortlist, a service targeting movie aficionados which is planned to debut this summer. The studio’s efforts to court viewers who prefer watching their films and television shows online have been echoed by a number of other major media companies over the past year. HBO recently launched their on-demand HBO Now service for people who don’t pay for a cable package, and CBS Corp.’s new CBS All Access service gives viewers a similar chance to watch the network’s programming online.

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