EXCLUSIVE: Plans by WarnerMedia to end the prestige film streaming site FilmStruck and its curated access to the Criterion Collection doesn’t mean that there won’t be a place for the product in WarnerMedia’s future.

The recent announcement on the site that it was going away for good has been met with an outcry by elite filmmakers. Deadline on Wednesday posted two letters sent to Warner Bros, this after Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and others first petitioned WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey. Deadline has learned in the aftermath of those postings that Stankey is in fact working on something of a compromise, which he has tipped in a response to the first entreaty by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and others.

FilmStruk

The promising news is that a new iteration is in the cards for FilmStruck, though it might not be called that. The not good news is that it will be part of a package of streaming services from WarnerMedia that at present is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2019. The company is figuring out a way to make it among several branded-content offerings in its OTT service.

What the outcry from filmmakers might do is quicken that pace, sources said. Given their resolve, it really doesn’t make sense to shutter the service so abruptly, and make a small but dedicated pool of subscribers wait close to a year for their classic movie fix. Not a bad idea to keep those cards and letters coming. Stay tuned.