Fandor, the streaming service that closed its doors back in 2018, is once again open for business. Well, it will be soon.

A new report says that Cinedigm has purchased Fandor and acquired its library of 4,600 films, with plans to relaunch the service with a subscription tier and an ad-supported free tier as well. Get the details below.

I know, I know – there are so many streaming services floating around nowadays that you might feel like you’re drowning in them. But Fandor got in the game earlier than most (it launched all the way back in 2011), with the aim of becoming, as the New York Times referred to them, “Netflix for the Sundance crowd” thanks to its library of independent films, classics, silent films, foreign films, documentaries, and shorts. The only problem was, the service couldn’t quite maintain the traction it needed to stay afloat. Despite the high-profile appointment of Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto as the company’s chief creative officer back in 2017 (yes, that is a real thing that happened), Fandor laid off its entire staff the next year and put itself up for sale.

Now Variety reports that Cinedigm has acquired Fandor, making it the latest niche streaming brand acquisition for the company after it previously picked up small brands like The Film Detective and a Bloody-Disgusting streaming service. Cinedigm believes the relaunched Fandor might be able to hit more than one million subscribers in the next two years, although they’re fighting an uphill battle in a crowded marketplace that already has The Criterion Channel as a dominant force in that space, as well as HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video’s sturdy line-up of older classics.

Fandor will be available to subscribers without ads, and Cinedigm is planning to launch a free, ad-supported on-demand tier “as well as a linear streaming channel” to help increase awareness for the service. Plus, Fandor’s library will be bolstered by some of the 7,000-plus movies in Cinedigm’s library.

One cool bonus is that Cinedigm intends to also relaunch Keyframe, Fandor’s online publication dedicated to the art of cinema, in the coming quarter. Keyframe made some excellent video essays in its day, so hopefully there will be more where that came from when that publication is up and running again.

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