The new ‘premium’ film channel announced last April as a joint venture between Viacom (Paramount), MGM and Lionsgate now has a name and a launch date, but, interestingly, no traditional distribution. At least not yet.

Instead, the US-only ‘channel’, now named “Epix”, will debut online in May — five months before its planned TV launch in October — and will use a subscription-based rather than Pay-Per-View model. The initial film lineup will feature “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Iron Man”, and “Pink Panther 2”, along with other titles, including classic Bond movies, from the studios’ 15,000 strong combined libraries.