New Releases No Longer Ultraviolet

[mattshiv]

I was browsing the new releases on Vudu this week and noticed that titles that would have previously been part of Ultraviolet are no longer being tagged as such and that includes new Lionsgate releases. Seems to be a sure sign that UV is on the way out.

Spider-Man: Homecoming and Girls Trip are still UV and MA, but I think that's because they hit Digital HD weeks ago before the launch. There aren't many studio releases this week but:

Fox Searchlight's STEP is MA only
Lionsgate's LADY MACBETH is not listed as UV
Lionsgate's SHOT CALLER is not listed as UV

[Undeadcow]

This has been going on with Lionsgate titles for a while with releases like The Dinner or The Hero never showing up as Ultraviolet despite offering a code with physical release; it doesn't seem like they're MA either. Not sure what's going on.

I think the expectation is that digital codes will eventually be only MA so Fox Searchlight's Step doesn't seem like much of a surprise. I think something different is going on with Lionsgate, not sure.

[kidkash]

I noticed this recently fandangonow which has a lot of films UV the day they are released in theaters have stopped doing that. And some films that are UV on fandangonow are MA only on vudu. It’ll be really noticeable Friday when Annabelle drops it’s UV on fandangonow but Vudu has it as MA only.

[albart]

Vudu released The Dark Tower on UV today

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by mattshiv

Fox Searchlight's STEP is MA only
Lionsgate's LADY MACBETH is not listed as UV
Lionsgate's SHOT CALLER is not listed as UV

They are all UV however on FandangoNow.

It may just be yet another case of Vudu not properly flagging them as UV. Wouldn't be the first time. There is a long running thread on their support forums of UV titles that Vudu doesn't have marked as UV.

[mattshiv]

Interesting that they are all marked on FandangoNow, but if that's the only place where UV rights apply it kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

[Mr Willy Wonka]

I've made three digital purchases on FandangoNow between yesterday afternoon and this morning: How To Train Your Dragon, The Thing (2011) and You're Next; all three showed UV, and all three ported over to Vudu without much delay. I know that UV is probably going to go away pretty soon but while it's still active, and I'd assume while the icon still appears next to a title, the movies should share.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by mattshiv

Interesting that they are all marked on FandangoNow, but if that's the only place where UV rights apply it kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Yes, and it's been a problem since UV started (some retailers flagging titles as UV and others not). Not a huge problem (as in not affecting a lot of titles), but there always seem to be a few titles that are issues.

[larrs]

Originally Posted by Mr Willy Wonka

I've made three digital purchases on FandangoNow between yesterday afternoon and this morning: How To Train Your Dragon, The Thing (2011) and You're Next; all three showed UV, and all three ported over to Vudu without much delay. I know that UV is probably going to go away pretty soon but while it's still active, and I'd assume while the icon still appears next to a title, the movies should share.

But did they port over to MA (and to Amazon, iTunes and Google)? That would be the new question. If bought on Vudu, you'd think yes but if bought on FN, you'd think no, but I'd really like to find out. My fear is that this will somehow cause a bottleneck.

[Andyways]

Originally Posted by larrs

But did they port over to MA (and to Amazon, iTunes and Google)? That would be the new question. If bought on Vudu, you'd think yes but if bought on FN, you'd think no, but I'd really like to find out. My fear is that this will somehow cause a bottleneck.

Once it ports from FandangoNow to Vudu, it will eventually port to MA as well. You won't see it on MA as recent purchases because it will be marked as being purchased in 1970 for some reason. You may have to disconnect/reconnect Vudu to MA to get it to port quicker. This may be the reason why they may stop issuing UV licences for new releases on Vudu.

[Sapvas]

I was just checking VUDU->movies sort by recently added. Even most of recently added old movies also MA only without UV. Not a good sign for UV

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by Sapvas

I was just checking VUDU->movies sort by recently added. Even most of recently added old movies also MA only without UV. Not a good sign for UV

The Dark Tower - MA/UV
The EMoji Movie - MA/UV
War For the Planet of the Apes - MA/UV
Spider-man Homecoming - MA/UV
Girls Trip - MA/UV
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - MA
Annabelle Creation - MA

Looks like only Warner and Disney have chosen to go MA only. Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate haven't even agreed to be part of MA. Paramount and Sony also have their own digital retail sites which support UV so I doubt they would abandon these for MA.

[MachoKing]

Annabelle Creation is UV already. Vudu never puts UV symbols on the movies during pre-order. When they're officially released on digital is when the UV status will show.

If you're looking at pre-orders then thats the issue.

[rzetlin]

An UV code came with my Wonder Woman Bluray.

[meburton]

FandangoNow has Movies that are UV titles, but they don’t list them as UV and they don’t transfer to your ultraviolet account.

For example:

Chaplin
https://www.blu-ray.com/uv/Chaplin-UltraViolet/12364/

https://www.fandangonow.com/details/...i=0&eci=movies

Showgirls
https://www.blu-ray.com/uv/Showgirls-UltraViolet/5156/

https://www.fandangonow.com/details/...i=0&eci=movies

[meburton]

And the UV symbol means nothing. I purchased The African Queen from NOOK and it had an Ultraviolet symbol, but UV said that they would not accept it, even after confirming that The African Queen was an Ultraviolet title.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by meburton

FandangoNow has Movies that are UV titles, but they don’t list them as UV and they don’t transfer to your ultraviolet account.

Yep, FN and Vudu both have issues like this on some titles. Sometimes bugging them will get it fixed sometimes not.

Originally Posted by meburton

And the UV symbol means nothing. I purchased The African Queen from NOOK and it had an Ultraviolet symbol, but UV said that they would not accept it, even after confirming that The African Queen was an Ultraviolet title.

The UV symbol may have meant nothing on Nook Video (which had all kinds of other problems), but I've never heard of a UV flagged title on Vudu not porting to a UV locker.

[meburton]

I guess i’m confused then. I thought ultraviolet rights were set by the studios.
Chaplin (Paramont) and Showgirls (MGM) both are both Ultraviolet titles, per their respective studios.

I noticed that FandangoNow is the only place where you can buy these 2 titles.
I wonder if FandangoNow has the rights to sell these titles at all? Because if they did, then it seems logical that the ultraviolet rights would follow.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by meburton

I guess i’m confused then. I thought ultraviolet rights were set by the studios.

UV rights are "set" by the studios, but the individual provider has to have them marked as enabled in their database too. I don't know all the exact details, just that it's been an issue for a long time where a movie will be properly enabled at one retailer, but not the other. I don't know if it's ID numbers for the movies not matching up or what, but it's been fixed enough times over the years to know it's an issue.

For example TAPS has been UV at FandangoNow, but not enabled at Vudu since at least (April 2016). Twelve O'Clock High has the same situation (bought at the same time) and Vudu eventually enabled the UV after being pestered about it for many months by folks.

An example from the Vudu support forums (there are also many threads for single or a few titles per thread)...
UV at Fandango, Not UV at VUDU - CURRENT

[meburton]

Originally Posted by flyry

It's on VUDU, Amazon, Google Play Movies and Itunes

As rentals, not for purchase.
Chaplin is now on iTunes as a purchase though.