Canal+ is taking advantage of its position in France’s complex media chronology by launching two new channels dedicated to movies. Canal+ Box-Office, showing recently released blockbusters, will be included in all Canal+ pay TV packages while Canal+ Cinema(s), dedicated to award-winning movies for cinema enthusiasts, will be available within the Ciné-Séries package. Both channels launched on 1st September 2023, and will be available on the linear service as well as via Canal+’s on demand service, myCanal. 

Canal+ can air movies just six months after their theatrical releases in France thanks to its pledge to invest €600m in local movies between 2022-2024. This window is significantly shorter than those of streaming services operating in France. Typically subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) platforms must wait 17 months after theatrical release to offer movies unless a specific agreement is in place, such as that of Netflix who have a reduced window of 15 months in return for an investment of €40m per year in the production of local feature films.

Research by Ampere’s Analytics service indicates that in July 2023, Canal+ offered 38 movies that had received a theatrical release in France since January 2022. Meanwhile, Netflix offered only three such titles meeting this criteria, with Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+ offering only one title each. Pay TV operator OCS, which has a similar agreement to Canal+ in place following a dedicated investment of €40m per year in return for a reduced window of six months, offered 12 titles across its linear and on-demand services. 

Canal+ is well positioned relative to global streamers in terms of its movie offerings. According to Ampere's consumer survey of French Internet households, having the latest movies is the most-likely reason for Canal+ customers to subscribe: In Q1 2023, one third of self-reporting Canal+ satellite households cited “it has the latest movies” as a reason for choosing the service.

Notably, the initial lineup of announced films that will premiere on Canal+ Box-Office includes Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which received a theatrical release in November 2022. This follows speculation that Disney could opt to release the movie directly via its streaming service Disney+ in France, as it had previously done with animated feature Strange World after voicing its discontent over France’s lengthy windowing rules. Indeed, under current regulations, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would not be available on Disney+ until April 2024.