The Criterion Collection has announced the Criterion Channel, a new streaming service set to launch in spring 2019 that will serve as the new home for Criterion Collection films. The new streaming service will serve as the successor to FilmStruck, the service that focused on classic, foreign, and arthouse films, which comes to a close at the end of the month.
“The Criterion Channel will be picking up where the old service left off, programming director spotlights and actor retrospectives featuring major Hollywood and international classics and hard-to-find discoveries from around the world, complete with special features like commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, and original documentaries,” the latest Criterion Collection newsletter reads. Guest programmer series will also have a life on the new platform.
Yesterday, it was reported that numerous film industry figures—including Paul Thomas Anderson, Ana Lily Amirpour, Barbra Streisand, Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more—had signed an open letter to Warner Bros Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich to appeal the shutdown of FilmStruck. FilmStruck will shut down on November 29.
