Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Fandango buys Vudu because movie theaters are dead (for now)

By

What do you do when you’re a business that derives most of its earning from movie ticket sales, now that the movie theater business has been mothballed for the foreseeable future? If you’re Fandango, the answer is you buy Vudu, a movie streaming service with millions of potential viewers, from its current owner, Walmart.

Recommended Videos

The cost of the Vudu acquisition has not been released, but we do know a fair bit about Vudu itself. Unlike subscription streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or even Disney+, which offer an all-you-can-eat model for a monthly fee, Vudu is a movie rental business that has quietly grown over the years into an impressive streaming platform. It reaches more than 100 million living room devices across the U.S and its mobile app has been downloaded over 14.5 million times, according to TechCrunch.

Related

It has supported 4K, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos since 2015, making it one of the first platforms to do so, a move it followed up in 2017 by adding support for HDR10. As a movie purchase and rental service, Vudu belongs to the Movies Anywhere platform, which gives folks cloud-based access to all of the digital movies they own. It also has an impressive collection of ad-supported free movie rentals that you can stream, with titles like Batman Begins and The Cabin In The Woods.

Fandango already owns FandangoNow, a purchase and rental service it acquired under the name M-Go. On the surface, Vudu and FandangoNow appear to be very similar, but FandangoNow lacks Vudu’s ad-supported collection which will be helpful to expand its reach into new households.

Vudu will continue to power Walmart’s digital movie and TV store on Walmart.com and existing Vudu customers won’t see any changes to their ability to access their purchased movies. Walmart logins and the Walmart wallet will continue to work on Vudu, TechCrunch notes.

Fandango is best known for its movie ticket purchasing service, a line of business that has obviously been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, officially known as COVID-19. The purchase of Vudu is both an expansion of its existing online movie rental business as well as a hedge against what might be a long-term turndown in the movie business. After all, even after theaters resume their normal operations, the pandemic has also affected the studios that create the movies, which adds even greater instability to an already uncertain outlook.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…
This underrated 2019 action movie is a big hit on Netflix now. Here’s why you need to watch it
Sasha Luss in Anna.

If it seems like there's an unexpected champion on top of the list of Netflix's most popular movies every week, that's because there often is. There's always at least one film that comes out of nowhere and blows away the competition from both the major studios and Netflix itself. This week, that movie is Anna, a 2019 action thriller from writer/director Luc Besson that bombed during its initial run in theaters. But when has that ever stopped Netflix users from embracing a flick?

One of the big reasons why Anna failed to connect with audiences the first time is that Lionsgate dropped Anna in theaters with little fanfare, so it wasn't surprising when people simply didn't show up to see it. Now that the film is enjoying a surge of popularity, it's time to go over the four reasons why you should watch Anna on Netflix.
It's La Femme Nikita 2.0

Read more
Like Alex Garland’s Civil War? Then watch these 3 great movies now
A woman stands in front of lights in "Civil War."

Although it's not a direct analog for today's tense political climate, Civil War is undoubtedly going to touch a nerve as people across the country watch it. Ex Machina director Alex Garland's latest directorial effort seems focused on dissecting exactly how people become so convinced that other people are their enemies.

The movie's political subject, as well as its pervading mood of tension, make it the kind of watch that gets under your skin and leaves you thinking about it for weeks afterward. If you're trying to chase that feeling, we've assembled three other movies that do similar things, even if they don't have all the same subject matter.
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Hotel Rwanda (2005) | Official Trailer | MGM Studios

Read more
7 great free sci-fi movies you should stream right now
Amy Adams in Arrival.

Streaming prices continue to increase, but luckily for viewers, there's a growing number of free streaming services out there. From Amazon Freevee to Tubi, Pluto TV, and even no-cost options on Peacock, there's tons of free content to be enjoyed. In recent years, the free content has also gotten a lot better now that major companies are investing in free streaming services.

This is especially great news for sci-fi fans since lots of fantastic new and classic sci-fi films have made their way to these free streamers. Whether you want a big box office hit, an award-winning indie film, or a legendary cult classic, you can find them for free. Here are seven of the best sci-fi movies you can stream right now without paying a dime.
The Thing (1982)

Read more