Culture

Why Netflix Is Losing 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and Other High-Profile Movies

This image released by Lionsgate shows Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, left, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a scene from "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."
Murray Close/Lionsgate/AP Photo

August 31, 2015, 4:10 PM

 -- If you've yet to watch "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" on Netflix, you better act fast.

Netflix said Sunday that the second Hunger Games movie, along with other high-profile flicks such as "World War Z" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction," will expire at the end of September on its U.S. service.

Why? Because, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos explained in a blog post, the company has decided not to renew its agreement in the U.S. with the cable network Epix.

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"While many of these movies are popular, they are also widely available on cable and other subscription platforms at the same time as they are on Netflix and subject to the same drawn out licensing periods," Sarandos said. "Through our original films and some innovative licensing arrangements with the movie studios, we are aiming to build a better movie experience for you."

Sarandos touted the original projects that will debut on Netflix in the coming months, including the Adam Sandler comedy "Ridiculous Six," the Bill Murray holiday special "A Very Murray Christmas," and the Pee-wee Herman movie "Pee-wee's Big Holiday."