Netflix losing Hunger Games and even more big movies as Epix deal expires

Netflix has decided not to renew its agreement with Epix, meaning that movies like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, World War Z, and Transformers: Age of Extinction (well, who really cares about that one) will be gone by the end of September. Studio licensing practices are hard, Netflix says, but it will all be okay! Why? Because the company is "hard at work" on making the studios irrelevant by bringing you original films from Adam Sandler. Netflix would also like to remind you it has a new show about Pablo Escobar, called Narcos. Yes, everything is fine.The shifting sands of Netflix's streaming library are tough to measure in any given month, but recently it seems like its catalog has been on a steady march toward resembling the bargain DVD bin at WalMart. The company usually announces which titles will be added and lost each month, but this month came with an admission that customers are complaining. "We hear from our members that you wish we had newer movies," writes chief content officer Ted Sarandos. "So do we."Fortunately, a victory won back in 2012 is about to kick in for Netflix, and probably right on time. Netflix would also like to remind everyone that its juicy exclusivity deal with Disney begins in 2016, which means that movies from Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel will reach the service faster than usual. That could be the shot in the arm Netflix's increasingly stale library needs to keep customers happy, but until then, we'll have Ridiculous Six and A Very Murray Christmas.

Click to expand...