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Amazon has launched a new Prime Video Cinema hub that allows users to watch films on theatrical release from home.
The news comes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has meant cinemas have been forced to shut down as people remain at home.
The hub itself doesn’t appear to be available in the UK at the moment, though theatrical releases such as The Invisible Man, The Hunt and Emma available to rent now in Britain for £15.99 for 48 hours once you start watching.
It comes as a number of digital outlets have revealed that they will be streaming recent movies as the crisis grows, including Curzon Home Cinema, MUBI and BFI Player in the UK.
However, the closure of cinemas has meant that some workers have taken a big hit, with Picturehouse announcing redundancies with immediate effect.
- Read more: ‘The Invisible Man’, ‘Onward’, ‘Bloodshot’ and more made available early due to coronavirus
One cinema in Edinburgh sent an email to staff that announced “measures to save the business given the serious difficulties it is currently facing”, telling staff that they would be let go.
One employee said: “It’s utterly irresponsible to make so many of us redundant. Other companies are finding the money and goodwill to pay their staff sick pay, while we are let go with the idea that maybe we’ll be rehired.
“As if we’d want to work for companies that treat their workers as something to wring out, so they can use us up all over again.”
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing crisis, rumours had emerged that Wonder Woman 1984 may go straight to streaming, though Warner Bros have since denied that this is the case.
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