YouTube starts showing full-length movie blockbusters

May 22, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Mountain View, California - YouTube is upgrading from cute kittens to Hollywood stars, making the move from homemade clips to full-length films.

The move is designed to progress YouTube from a service based on users' clips to one that can take on television on its own terms, to say nothing of online movie rental services.

That means users now have access to 3,000 movies, along with critics' commentaries and bonus materials, all online. The selection includes classics like Goodfellas and Taxi Driver, as well as recent releases like The King's Speech and The Green Hornet.

So far, the selection is only available to American residents, who have to pay 3.99 dollars to rent a movie this way. In other countries, users will have to make do with a handful of older, but free movies at www.youtube.com/movies.

'In the coming year, we'll bring even more content to YouTube,' promised YouTube chief Salar Kamangar on a company blog.

The Google subsidiary has long been at work to shift from being a platform for video clips to a true replacement for the television. Currently, users spend about 15 minutes a day on YouTube, but five hours in front of their televisions, noted Kamangar.

'As the lines between online and offline continue to blur, we think that's going to change,' he said.

YouTube struck it big with amateur films, but its contents have grown ever more professional. By moving to self-produced clips or items purchased from Hollywood, it hopes to remain interesting to the public. Currently, it sends about 2 billion clips a day across computer monitors, smartphones, tablet computers and internet-capable televisions.

YouTube already experimented with full-length films last year, as it went online with submissions from the Sundance Film Festival. The move to blockbusters is an attack on online rental services like Netflix or the television series platform Hulu.

Amazon and Apple also rent films for a fee. The business is taking off in the United States, creating worries among television networks and cable providers.