Sky today announces the launch of Sky Cinema on 8 July. Set to replace Sky Movies in the UK & Ireland, customers will be able to enjoy even more of the biggest and best movies closer to cinema release than any other subscription service. All available live, on demand or on the go.

Building on more than a quarter of a century of heritage in home cinema, Sky Cinema customers will have access to a new movie premiere every day, an even bigger library of on demand films, more pop up channels as well as better HD picture and sound quality , taking them one step closer to the cinema experience.

All this is available at no extra cost to existing and new subscribers. Furthermore, HD will be offered as standard to all Sky Cinema customers on the Sky and Virgin Media platforms.

Sky Cinema will be the biggest dedicated movie subscription service in Europe as Sky's movie services in Germany, Austria and Italy are also rebranded and relaunched under the new name. Further announcements are planned in those markets in the coming months.

Millions of Sky Movies customers who enjoy the service on Sky, via the NOW TV monthly movies pass, or through platforms like BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk can expect:

A new movie premiere every day!

The improved service will feature a new premiere every single day of the week. This is a 75% increase on the four per week offered by Sky Movies.

Spectre (8 July), Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (9 July), Steve Jobs (18 September), Bridge of Spies (30 September) and The Danish Girl (23rd October) will all premiere in the first few months alone. The Jungle Book, Zootopia and Captain America: Civil War are set to headline Sky's most ambitious Christmas movie collection yet.

Major films are available just 8 months after cinema release, and can be watched exclusively on Sky Cinema for over a year before you can watch them on any other subscription service. 45 of the top 50 films at the UK Box Office in 2015 are exclusive to Sky Movies.

It's not only about blockbusters; customers can enjoy more of the best stories from around the world with a dedicated new 'World Cinema' slot every Wednesday from 10pm. Some of the critically-acclaimed films coming up include: El Ardor (Argentina); Theeb (UAE); Tangerines (Estonia) and many more.

An even bigger library of films on demand

Consumers can enjoy the biggest ever line-up of blockbuster and classic movies on demand, with around 1,200 films available to view instantly, an increase of 20%. More than half of all the films watched on Sky are on demand with one billion downloads or streams in the last two years alone.

Sky Cinema will be the home of Star Wars and all the biggest franchises

Sky Cinema will be the exclusive home of Star Wars and many other blockbuster franchises including all the biggest films from the DC Comics and Marvel universes.

Starting with Star Wars, Sky Cinema will premiere the decade's most anticipated film Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in August 2016. In celebration Sky Cinema will air the hugely successful Star Wars pop-up channel in August and September featuring the entire Star Wars back catalogue and lots of themed programming. Sky customers can look forward to seeing all the films as the franchise continues to unfold including Rogue One (August 2017) and Episode VIII (August 2018).

Sky Cinema will also be the home of Superheroes. Sky Cinema will feature all the latest instalments in the DC Comic and Marvel Universes such as Captain America Civil War, Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad due to hit screens over the next couple of years along with all the latest films from the X-Men and Spiderman franchises.

Even more pop-up channels and original programming

Building on the success of Sky Movies pop-up channels like 007, Harry Potter and Aliens, Sky Cinema is planning even more. There will be at least one every month rather than only a few times each year. Already in the pipeline for the next six months are Disney-Pixar, Star Trek and Superheroes as well as channels showcasing the work of iconic actors including Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.

As well as pop up channels, Sky Cinema will feature more original programming such as interviews and film documentaries alongside coverage of movie events.

An even closer to cinema viewing experience for Sky customers

The enhanced viewing experience will come to life through a number of new features for customers watching through Sky+HD or Sky Q including:
  • New, improved HD as standard
  • Even better sound quality, closer to the cinema experience, for on demand films
  • New tools to help customers watch and find their favourite films including the 'Restart' feature which means customers can watch films from the very beginning no matter what point they switch on
  • Sky Q customers can look forward to Ultra HD films by the end of the year

To improve the HD, Sky is using a new internal master format that provides a third more pixels and four times the number of colour shades of the current HD offered. This means sharper and more vibrant pictures for a better viewing experience. As well as improved picture, selected movies on demand will also have sound closer to cinema. The sound range has been increased in part by taking the audio track straight from the studios. It means louder bangs and quieter whispers with no need for customer to make any adjustments to their TV.

Ian Lewis, Director of Sky Cinema, Europe commented: 'With Sky Cinema we are giving customers an even closer to the cinema experience with enhanced picture and sound quality. However, we know the heart of the service is great movies. Customers want a breadth of the latest quality films to enjoy with the flexibility to watch whenever they want and on whatever device they choose. Sky Cinema builds on this commitment with even more premieres and instant access to an unrivalled library of the latest blockbusters and classic films. A better service needs a new name and Sky Cinema is about delivering the ultimate offering for movie fans everywhere.'

All films will be available on 11 dedicated live channels, via on demand, or on the go through Sky Go and the dedicated Sky Cinema app. Sky Cinema is still the only subscription service that lets you download all films for offline viewing.

Notes to Editors:

Some of the premieres on Sky Cinema in July and August

July

Spectre

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Ant-Man

Minions Movie

Crimson Peak

Strange Magic

The Walk

Solace

Theeb

Everest

Me, Earl and the Dying girl

Tangerines

The Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Four Corners

Burnt

El Ardor

August

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens

The Man from U.N.C.L.E

The Martian

The Good Dinosaur

Hotel Transylvania 2

Suffragette

The Perfect Guy

Sixteen

Pan

Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods

The Dressmaker

Survivalist

Tokyo Tribe

Hour of the Lynx

For further information, please contact:

Sky

Abigail Tye / Robin Tozer

Abigail.Tye@sky.uk / Robin.Tozer@sky.uk

020 7032 4713 / 020 7032 0620

Fever

Shannon Bailey

Shannon.Bailey@feverpr.com

020 7792 4486

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 21 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £4.9 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

Sky plc published this content on 15 June 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
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