‘Bird Box,’ ‘Stranger Things,’ and More Netflix Properties Will Stream for Free
If you’ve yet to watch “Bird Box” or have been waiting for an excuse to get into “Stranger Things,” the time is now. Netflix is offering free streaming for several of its most popular titles, including the aforementioned film and television show.
Netflix unveiled a new “Watch Free” section on its website and all of the section’s content can be viewed without registering for a Netflix account. Other Netflix films that can be viewed for free include the Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston-led comedy “Murder Mystery,” DreamWorks Animation’s “The Boss Baby: Back in Business,” and “The Two Popes,” an Oscar-nominated biographical drama that stars Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins.
As for Netflix’s free television offerings, viewers can watch pilot episodes from six series, though viewers will need to pay for a Netflix subscription if they wish to stream the rest of each show. Pilot episodes from “Stranger Things,” “Love is Blind,” Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us,” the Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin-led “Grace and Frankie,” “Elite,” and “Our Planet” are available for free on Netflix.
Netflix is expected to rotate its free offerings periodically, though a specific timetable was not provided. The free titles are only available via PC web browsers and Android devices; users of connected-TV platforms and Apple iOS browsers are out of luck.
Netflix enjoyed a strong surge of subscriptions early in the year as many Americans sequestered themselves indoors and sought out new entertainment. At the time, Netflix told its investors that those gains were not sustainable and stated that subscription numbers may drop as governments began to ease social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders. The company’s new “Watch Free” strategy is likely part of its effort to maintain some of the momentum the streaming service enjoyed earlier in the year.
The streaming service’s new free titles were announced several months after Netflix released 10 of its educational documentaries for free on YouTube. Other streaming competitors, such as Apple and WarnerMedia, have also released a variety of free titles to court users over the last few months.
Check out Netflix’s free titles on the streaming service’s website.
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