By Richard Lawler 
posted Aug 10th 2010 8:32AM
Netflix streaming queue starting to look a little stale? It's working on that, and has signed a deal that brings EPIX's library of movies to Watch Instantly -- just not
that instantly. If you're not familiar with
EPIX, allow us to refresh you, it's a network launched last year
by Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate that brings their movies home (though often unfortunately cropped and zoomed to 16x9) through a linear channel, video on-demand or internet streaming. Under this new agreement, movies from those studios can come to Netflix 90 days after they debut on the premium pay-tv and subscription VOD services. While that means streamers won't get access to
Iron Man 2,
The Expendables, or
Dinner for Shmucksanywhere near day-and-date with their DVD or Blu-ray releases, those kinds of high profile flicks will show up and stick around with greater regularity than we've been used to. The companies haven't released further details, but rumors reported by the
L.A. Times suggest licensing costs could reach $1 billion over the next 5 years. The first movies covered by the new deal arrive September 1, likely with flicks from the
Star Trek,
James Bond and
Indiana Jones series (hopefully not
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) among them.
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