With Amazon’s Epix movie deal, Prime gets The Avengers, Hunger Games, & more

Amazon has reached a new deal with movie service Epix that will allow the online retailer to stream several recent blockbuster films through its Prime Instant video service for free, the company announced today.

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Epix, which has a joint venture for movie licenses from Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, and Lionsgate, previously signed an exclusive streaming deal with Netflix, which ended back in August. So the new deal means Amazon’s streaming library is now even more competitive with industry-leader Netflix.

The Epix licensing agreement will allow Amazon to stream tons of big-ticket movies 90 days after they are released to retail stores. Some of the movies coming to Prime include Marvel’s The Avengers, Iron Man 2, Transformer: Dark of the Moon, Thor, and The Hunger Games.

The Prime Instant Video library is part of Amazon’s Prime membership, a $79 a year “club” that gives customers free shipping on lots of items sold through the site.

Amazon is also scheduled to make an announcement Thursday regarding its next generation of Kindle devices. And since the location of the press event is set curiously close to Hollywood, many are speculating there could be another big movie-related announcement on the way.