Fandango has revealed Vudu's fate more than a year after it purchased the streaming platform from Walmart. No, Vudu isn't going away. In fact, it's merging with its parent company's own streaming service, FandangoNow, to form a single platform that'll take on Vudu's name. Fandango told TechCrunch that it decided to retain Vudu's branding, because it has a following that's significantly larger than FandangoNow's. According to data from the NPD Group, Vudu is in over 75 million TV-connected devices in the US and has more than 60 million registered users.
As a result of the merge, Vudu will replace FandangoNow as Roku's official movie and TV store. Roku devices will automatically update the app, and owners will be able to purchase the media they want using Roku Pay. The new Vudu will offer more than 200,000 movies and TV shows they can purchase, including new releases like F9: The Fast Saga, Pixar's Luca, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Peter Rabbit 2, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, A Quiet Place Part II, Disney's Cruella, Godzilla vs. Kong and In the Heights. Next Tuesday, Black Widow will arrive on the platform. If you'll recall, Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for the movie's simultaneous release in theatres and on Disney+, which reportedly cost the star over $50 million.
Even though only the Vudu branding will remain, FandangoNow customers won't lose access to their purchased content. They can now transfer their accounts to Vudu, where they'll be able to access their TV and movie libraries like usual.