Now, Netflix and Amazon coming for blockbuster Hollywood movies

Streaming services have already bid up the price of TV reruns, stand-up comedy performances and contracts with top producers. Now they’re coming for blockbuster movies from the studios behind “Fast & Furious” and “Spider-Man.”

Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures have begun negotiating with streaming services and cable networks to license their next round of theatrical movies for home video, starting with films set to be released in 2022. ViacomCBS Inc.’s Paramount Pictures also has movies to sell, though it may wait for one of the other studios to move first.The deals could generate as much as $250 million per studio annually — and, in some cases, more — according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Hulu have all expressed interest in the rights, as have HBO and Starz, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are in preliminary stages.

As many as a half-dozen services are bidding for the rights, which would let streaming companies show the movies about nine months after the films have appeared in theaters. The winning platforms may have the exclusive rights for 18 months and then regain them for a second window of time, several years later. But the companies are discussing many options, especially since the biggest media giants now have their own streaming services to feed.