Netflix has announced today that it will offer The Hunger Games on its subscription-based streaming service from March 3 in the UK and Ireland, followed by a later release in the US.

The film, which was an international hit last year, features Jennifer Lawrence and is based on the best-selling novel by Suzanne Collins.

Initially, Netflix will be the only subscription-based streaming service to offer The Hunger Games – although it’s possible that some of its direct competitors will pick it up in the future. It’s also worth noting, however, that the film is already available on Blinkbox, the Tesco-owned video on demand (VOD) service which uses a pay-per-film pricing model.

“We are thrilled to be the exclusive online home for The Hunger Games in the UK and Ireland,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer. “Since launching in the UK and Ireland in January 2012, we have continued to expand our offering of great movies and TV programmes, and we think our members are going to love the latest addition to the service.”

The battle between Netflix and Amazon, which owns rental and streaming service LoveFilm in the UK, has ramped up in the last few months as each tries to claim exclusive content over the other.

Earlier this month Netflix announced that it had teamed up with DreamWorks Animation to offer exclusive access to Turbo F.A.S.T (Fast Action Stunt Team), an original TV show aimed specifically at children.

The company has also given its original series House of Cards, which stars Kevin Spacey, a huge marketing push to try to persuade customers that it has a superior offering. House of Cards has generally been well received, and had an interesting delivery model given that all of the episodes were available straight away.

Netflix also confirmed in January that it would be bringing back Arrested Development for one last season, consisting of 14 episodes, exclusively on Netflix.

Image Credit: Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar

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