Vudu Is Replacing FandangoNOW, Will Become Official Store Of Roku

Good news: Fandango will not be rebranding their merged Vudu and FandangoNOW streaming services as Fandango+, or something dumb like that. Instead, the two networks will relaunch today as one, united catalog under the name… Wait for it… Vudu. And not only that, Vudu will become the official movie and TV store on Roku.

“At Fandango, we’ve been building a digital network that super-serves tens of millions of fans across the entire entertainment lifecycle, from movie and TV discovery with Rotten Tomatoes, to our three theatrical ticketing apps and now an even larger scale Vudu on-demand streaming destination,” said Fandango President Paul Yanover via a release provided to Decider. “During a time where consumers have a myriad of viewing options, we’re proud to deliver a service that presents an unparalleled library of content, many titles that are not available on subscription services, and the flexibility to pay as you go.”

Vudu was purchased by Fandango, a company previously primarily known for its movie ticket sales, in April of 2020. Though the amount of the sale was not disclosed, Fandango’s purchase (from Walmart, no less) seemed to spell the end of Vudu. After all, why would Fandango need both Vudu, and their own, self-branded FandangoNOW streaming service?

Instead, the company has surprisingly gone in the other direction, moving Vudu to the forefront and replacing FandangoNOW. The news of the merger was actually soft-leaked a few weeks ago, when the company sent an email to consumers notifying them of the change. However (and perhaps, one might argue, confusingly), it seemed like the rebranded service would be called “Vudu Fandango,” which is also a popular dance the kids do in the clubs these days, he said sounding very old. Not so! Though the logo has a vestigial Fandango, the actual name of the service is simply “Vudu.”

As the release states, this rebranding should allow Vudu to concentrate on the burgeoning realm of streaming TV and movies, while Fandango will focus on its core mission of selling movie tickets to the rapidly dying theatrical experience (that’s my own editorializing, the release didn’t say that last part).

Also of note, Fandango, which owns Vudu, is itself majority owned by NBCUniversal, which has its own streaming service: Peacock. While Peacock — which has been getting a major push thanks to the Olympics — has its own streaming TV and movies, Vudu is offering a different experience, thanks to the now “more than 200,000 new release and catalog movies and TV show to rent or buy,” according to the release. Vudu is also lauded for its generally higher quality streams, and is more seen as a potential competitor to iTunes and Prime Video than Peacock and similar streamers.

It also has arguably a more comprehensive catalog, thanks to thousands of titles that stream free, with no subscription required; plus new releases including F9, Luca, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and Black Widow. Though the latter will also cost you money to rent, versus wondering whether a given movie is streaming on HBO Max or Disney+, Vudu, like any good Pokémon master, has ’em all.

Vudu isn’t just available on Roku, either. You can also find the service on Samsung, LG and Vizio Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex, PlayStation, Xbox, Tivo and more. You can check out the rebranded Vudu and go watch, I don’t know, Peter Rabbit 2, starting today.