In a statement on their site, FilmStruck said “We’re incredibly proud of the creativity and innovations produced by the talented and dedicated teams who worked on FilmStruck over the past two years,” Turner and Warner Bros. said in a statement. “While FilmStruck has a very loyal fanbase, it remains largely a niche service. We plan to take key learnings from FilmStruck to help shape future business decisions in the direct-to-consumer space and redirect this investment back into our collective portfolios.”
Here is an email they sent to customers still subscribed today:
It is a sad day. FilmStruck is shutting down at midnight tonight. Thank you for being one of the people who gave FilmStruck and the Criterion Channel a chance in its first two years. Without you we would never have gotten this far. It feels as if we were just hitting our stride, and it’s heartbreaking that the passion project of Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection has to come to an end. FilmStruck has left its mark on us at Criterion. The lights may go out at midnight, but we will still be carrying the torch.
If you’ve loved the curated programming on FilmStruck and the Criterion Channel, there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon. We’ve been given a second chance, an opportunity, with TCM’s blessing, to rebuild an independent service, owned and run by Criterion, with a mission to pick up where FilmStruck left off.
Set to launch in the U.S. and Canada in spring 2019, the new service will not only include our own streaming library but will also feature a full spectrum of Hollywood classics and carefully selected films from independent distributors around the world. We’ll be applying the lessons we learned at FilmStruck, and the mission will be the same: to create a dedicated movie lover’s dream streaming service, with diverse thematic programming, supplemental features, guest programmers, hosted introductions, and more.
We need your support! Please sign up to become a Charter Subscriber today. It only takes a minute and you don’t need to put down a credit card, but if you do sign up now, you’ll enjoy a reduced subscription price and other benefits for life, as long your membership stays continuously active.
We know there are only a few hours left to get through all those great movies still on your FilmStruck watchlist, but please take a moment and sign up to keep the original mission and spirit of an adventurous, curated, film-focused streaming service alive. We can’t do it without you!
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