Lionsgate and Univision team up for Spanish-language movie streaming service

Lionsgate Entertainment, the maker and distributor of box-office hits such as the “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” franchises, is teaming up with Spanish-language TV giant Univision Communications to launch a video-on-demand service aimed specifically at the U.S. Hispanic audience.

The yet-unnamed service, due to premiere in 2017, will court a potential audience of 50 million U.S. Hispanics with a combination of offerings from Pantelion Films, the U.S. based distributor of popular Latin American imports such as “Instructions Not Included,” which grossed nearly $100 million worldwide in 2013; Televisa, the Mexican multimedia company that specializes in telenovelas and other kinds of TV programming; and selections from Lionsgate’s 16,000-title library of Hollywood hits, dubbed into Spanish.

“Hispanic movie-goers are one of the fastest-growing segments of the entertainment business today, and this platform offers a unique value proposition combining premium content, advanced technology and tremendous accessibility,” said Univision President and CEO Randy Falco in a press release. “We’re pleased to bring our marketing and distribution experience to an exciting new service driven by current and classic Spanish-language films and Hollywood favorites that will resonate with our audience.”

Univision will start offering the service to cable and network providers as a stand-alone channel or as part of its subscription-based Univision NOW package.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Lionsgate and Univision team up for Spanish-language movie streaming service."