The world is still feeling the tragic sting of Whitney Houston’s untimely death. And, like many fans and non-fans alike, we often seek out some of the artist’s previous, and most well known work, to comfort us. The Bodyguard, the Oscar-nominated thriller, is easily Houston’s most popular film. It also contains one of the single-most recognizable Whitney Houston songs, “I Will Always Love You” — a cover of the beloved Dolly Parton tune.
Up until her passing, The Bodyguard was previously available on Netflix Instant Streaming. However, shortly after her death, the title was removed from the streaming catalog, available now only through Netflix’s disc rental service. As it turns out, this move was made not by Netflix but by Warner Brothers, the studio who produced and distributes the title.
Dan McDermott, of Google Plus Week, uncovered the story and contacted Netflix about the issue. According to McDermott, the Netflix rep said: “Okay Dan, I just went and talked to my main supervisor as to why the movie had been pulled and the reason it was pulled was the production company pulled the streaming rights from us because all the publicity after Whitney Houston’s passing there was an opportunity to make really a very large amount of money on the DVD sales of her movies. So they’re going to pull all the streaming titles we have of Whitney Houston so they can make more money off the DVD sales of her movies.”
On one level, it makes sense that the studio took this measure and removed the title. After all, it’s their right to do so — they own the film. But those looking to fondly remember the highlights of the late troubled star, it’s upsetting. Many retail and rental outlets have been sold out of the title, making it hard to find copies of the film.
Curiously, and contrary to the Netflix rep’s explanation, The Bodygaurd is still available to watch for free via Amazon Prime’s Instant Video service. If you don’t have Prime, Amazon offers the title on demand, available for 48-hour rental, for just $2.99, or purchase for $9.99. The film is also available on iTunes for the same purchase rates.
Netflix Instant is still offering Fox’s Waiting to Exhale, via Starz Play, too. So if you’re still looking for a Whitney Houston film to watch on Netflix, there is one available.
Amazon also lists a March 27, 2012, release date for the Blu-ray of The Bodyguard. This disc, quite coincidentally, has been slated for a spring 2012 release since December 2011, according to Blu-ray.com. While no specs are available at this time, the disc will likely feature all the bonus materials previously available on the DVD release. Presumably, the title will be presented in 1080p video and 5.1 lossless audio.
It is very possible, since Warner Brothers does tend to pull titles from Netflix Instant before releasing them on Blu-ray, that the removal is purely coincidental. Regardless, for those grieving, this move might be frustrating, but there are many options still available for fans.
Here’s a look at the upcoming Blu-ray box art:
[UPDATE] Conflicting reports are coming in with regards to this story. According to Digital Trends, Netflix is now denying it was forced to pull the title as previously reported by McDermott. In fact, Netflix is denying the title was available in 2012 at all, despite other conflicting reports of it being available up until Houston’s death. We’ll keep you updated as soon as this issue is cleared up.
Article from www.ign.com
