• by Wayne Friedman , August 20, 2013

Netflix continues its march to acquire big theatrical content exclusively for its streaming service -- now with a big multi-year deal with The Weinstein Company. In response to the news, the subscription video-on-demand service’s stock rose sharply.

Starting in 2016, new feature films from TWC and Dimension Films titles will be available on Netflix. Netflix already has a deal with TWC and Dimension Films for documentaries and foreign films, including the Academy Award winning Best Picture ”The Artist."

Under terms of the deal, Netflix will become the exclusive U.S. pay-TV service for first-run films from Weinstein beginning in 2016. The deal covers new Weinstein and Dimension films that are making their first appearance on pay TV after being released in theaters.

In midday trading, Netflix’s stock was up 4.3% to $270.89.

"The deal that we've just completed with Netflix is probably the biggest deal in the history of The Weinstein Company and together, we are discussing ways to reinvent the pay TV experience so that the audience can get even more for their money," stated Harvey Weinstein, co-chair, The Weinstein Co. Weinstein didn’t go into specific details.

TWC joins Disney, DreamWorks Animation and 21st Century Fox Television as companies that have recently agreed to multi-year, exclusive streaming deals with Netflix .