Movies Anywhere Now Lets You Loan Your Digital Movies to Friends

With social distancing and self quarantine becoming the temporary normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, entertainment companies are getting creative in how they reach their audiences. Movies Anywhere, the Disney-owned digital movie platform, is now launching a new program that allows users to share their movies with friends and family. The new service is called Screen Pass, and the official beta test for it launches on Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm ET.

Movies Anywhere collects your digital libraries from places like Vudu, Amazon, and iTunes, putting the majority of your movies all in one place (a few studios still don't participate). Now, you will be able to share movies between friends a couple of times each month using Screen Pass.

With the service, users can share up to three movies per month with others who use Movies Anywhere. Once you send the movie, the recipient will have seven days to accept the offer. After that, they'll have two week to start the movie and 72 hours to complete it once they hit play. The three free passes reset on the first of each month but they won't be able to roll over. There is no limit on how many times you can share the same movie, or who you can share it to.

Of course, there will be exceptions to what's able to be shared. Movies Anywhere says that over 6,000 movies (80% of its catalogue) will be available through the program. However, some studios may limit newer releases if they so choose. There are also studios like MGM, Paramount, and Lionsgate that don't make their films available on Movies Anywhere.

The beta test launching on Tuesday is a closed beta, which means only certain people will be able to try the program. A wider beta test is planned for May, with a full launch eyed for later this year. In the meantime, all Movies Anywhere users will be able to receive Screen Pass movies from those in the beta.