YouTube is reportedly set to launch launch a movie-on-demand service charging users to stream mainstream Hollywood movies.
Hollywood news stie TheWrap reports that the service may start as early as this week or next, and is expected to be announced soon by YouTube.
Major studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal have licensed their movies for the new service, as have numerous independent studios, including Lionsgate and Kino Lorber, movie executives with knowledge of the deals said.
YouTube has been laboring to bring all the major Hollywood studios on board before announcing it, according to one executive involved in the deal. But so far Paramount, Fox and Disney have declined to join.
A YouTube spokesman noted that the site has been offering movies for rent for over a year and now has around 1,000 titles available. The company declined to comment further.
