Virgin Media moves movies to the web

Virgin Media has unveiled it's jumping on the online movie bandwagon, with the launch of Virgin Media Online Movies.

No stranger to the on-demand scene, Virgin is hoping it can bring some of its movie magic to the web and it has teamed up with FilmFlex – which is a joint venture between Sony and Disney – to do just that.

Launching in May, the service will launch with 'hundreds of titles', including recent movies Fantastic Mr Fox and District 9.

It will also show The Twilight Saga: New Moon as of 6 May.

Flexing its movie muscle

"Virgin Media already offers the UK's leading movies on demand TV service and we wanted to bring the same high-quality, easy-to-use experience to film fans online," said Alex Green, executive director, commercial, TV and online, Virgin Media, about the launch.

"Virgin Media Online Movies will help visitors discover and enjoy a whole world of film and we'll continue to develop the service by adding download functionality, even more titles and a great choice of HD films to the line-up."

Virgin Media already uses FilmFlex for its on-demand movie service through its set-top boxes.

Those who want to use the service will have to set up an account through Virgin Media's website. Once done, you will have 48 hours to watch whichever movie you choose.

Price plan

The good thing about it is that you are not tied to any one PC as Virgin Media Online Movies is based on the account rather than device used.

Those who already use Virgin's on-demand service through Virgin Media will be familiar with the pricing – although prices do vary depending on what title you rent, expect to pay around the £3.99 mark.

Earlier this year Virgin launched a music on demand service and it hopes to have a similar online TV service later in the year.

To have a look at Virgin Media Online Movies for yourself, point your browser to www.virginmedia.com/onlinemovies.