In November 2023, Netflix UK will be removing 33 movies and shows from the platform. It’s a common occurrence, which cycles out released content that doesn’t show a long-term performance trend in certain geographic regions. Among them is The Hunger Games, a franchise that was all the rage a decade ago and is getting a prequel later in the year.
The Hunger Games & Streaming
Having been showcased on Netflix US earlier this year, The Hunger Games was available for about a month to celebrate the franchise’s ten-year anniversary. As a franchise, The Hunger Games pre-dates a lot of the streaming buzz that kicked off later in the decade. Now, more people are using the internet to source their entertainment than ever before, through streaming but also through older online industries like video-sharing websites or iGaming. While streaming emerged as a major player last decade, sites that host a live casino online were around back when The Hunger Games first came out and have grown since. Their continued growth shows a trend that people are moving online as the internet becomes the one-stop shop for entertainment. Since streaming isn’t time-sensitive, older franchises like The Hunger Games can and were added to the catalogue of movies available.
HAPPY HUNGER GAMES!
Thrilled to announce that all four Hunger Games films — The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 — are now on Netflix US! pic.twitter.com/1lPZv45Z4Y
— Netflix (@netflix) March 1, 2023
Netflix and other streaming services rode the trend of on-demand, internet-based entertainment. They became a monumental force that has started to rival and even cause upset to the traditional movie-making business. We saw this during the summer, with the writer’s strikes over residuals. Given all this context, it was inevitable that The Hunger Games would have its time to shine through streaming.
The Prequel & Future Plans
The Hunger Games’ stint on Netflix, which is to end on November 1st in the UK, may also be partly promotional in nature. On November 17th, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is being released. The film tracks the origins of President Snow as a young man, long before he became the dictator seen in the mainline trilogy split into four films.
As the largest franchise in that list of 33 other IPs, and with a new film coming out, it’s likely that The Hunger Games’ removal is part of a pre-arranged agreement between distributor Lionsgate and Netflix’s UK division. If interest is renewed in the franchise after the prequel releases, it’d be a smart business move by Lionsgate to remove streamed alternatives if a bump in sales were to occur. Then, if buying interest dies down again, streaming remains a viable option to get both the legacy movies and their prequel in front of new audiences.
There are currently no plans to bring the new prequel film to streaming. In the past, Netflix competitors like Disney+ have brought Disney-produced movies to streaming much sooner than expected, even debuting much-anticipated movies through streaming when theatres weren’t available. They continue to do so through Disney+ Originals. Given Lionsgate’s previous collaborations with Netflix US and UK, there’s a high likelihood that the entire series will make its way to the streaming service in the future.
