Tom Cruise’s much-awaited ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ hits theatres this Friday, May 27. It’s just the right time to revisit Tom Cruise’s blockbuster hit, the original 1986 ‘Top Gun’ movie on OTT, right?
Wrong!
You cannot have the pleasure of enjoying the original ‘Top Gun’ movie on any OTT platform right now. Why? Because the title has simply disappeared from every streaming platform it was available in just over a few weeks ago, that’s why!
Yes, just a few weeks ago, Top Gun was streaming on both Prime Video and Netflix, the main homes of foreign titles in India. But Top Gun left both Prime Video and Netflix around 10-15 days before Top Gun: Maverick’s premiere in theatres approaches.
Mind you, the title is still available on Prime Video India, but on rent. So, if you want to watch Top Gun just to refresh your memory before Top Gun: Maverick premieres in cinemas, show them the moolah, folks!
Don’t believe us? Check out the streaming details for Top Gun (1986)and you’ll know. It is not streaming ANYWHERE on subscription based OTT. It is only available on pay per view on TVOD.
So is this a new way for OTT platforms to milk viewers for much-needed revenue. It is quite obvious that interest in a title (or titles, as the case may be) spikes when its brand new sequel is about to release in theatres. What better way to leverage those titles for revenue than moving them out of SVOD, and putting them in TVOD?
Same is the case with ‘Jurassic World: Dominion‘. The much-awaited film premieres on June 10 in theatres worldwide. And what do you know? The entire ‘Jurassic Park’ series of 5 films has disappeared from both Netflix and Prime Video India. None of these — Jurassic Park (1993), Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), Jurassic World (2015), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) — is available on any OTT platform. But yes, they are all available to watch on pay per view!
Last year too, several high-profile sequels hit theatres – ‘Fast And Furious 9’ and ‘A Quiet Place II’. And guess what – all eight previous ‘Fast And Furious’ movies, as well as ‘A Quiet Place I’ disappeared from Netflix and Prime Video.
We at Binged were inundated with queries on which platforms to stream these aforementioned films; but as is obvious – we had no answer. Yet, the said movies were available on pay per view on TVOD platforms such as Google Movies, YouTube and iTunes. But on SVOD? Gone with the wind!
We’re certain that when Mission Impossible 7 comes around in the theatres next year, all six previous Mission Impossible films will disappear from Netflix and Prime Video.
Mark our words. And be warned!
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