• TheWrap.com, Tuesday, July 6, 2010 12:25 PM

Netflix has entered into a partnership with Hollywood production shop Relativity Media, which will give it exclusive streaming rights to movies under Relativity's distribution purview. TheWrap.com's Sharon Waxman, who broke news of the deal, suggests that it could "change the landscape of pay television deals."

Indeed, according to Waxman, "The deal would effectively make Netflix a new player in the pay television window, competing with the likes of HBO, Showtime and Starz." Going forward, Relativity is slated to distribute "The Fighter," starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, the documentary "Catfish," and the Medieval thriller "Season of the Witch." "Those premium pay TV deals are critical to Hollywood studios, bringing in more than an estimated $100 million per year to each of the major studios," writes Waxman. "The Netflix deal with Relativity is believed to be on a par with or better than the major studios' pay TV deals."

Read the whole story at TheWrap.com »