500 Paramount films including Godfather trilogy coming to YouTube

A deal has been struck between film studio giant Paramount Pictures and video-sharing website YouTube that will enable users to watch nearly 500 films.

The newly signed licensing agreement means Internet users in the US and Canada will shortly be able to watch blockbuster classics like The Godfather trilogy, Hugo and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Several more films will be rolled out during the next month, says Google. The costs are likely to be between $2.99 to $3.99 for a normal-definition version and a dollar more for the high-definition version. Rentals will last 48 hours but you will have 30 days from the time of purchase to begin watching a movie, reports Mashable. Five out of the six major film studios have now signed up to YouTube's film rental service. Paramount, owned by Viacom are the latest swoop for the video-sharing Internet site. The catalogue now includes more than 9,000 titles . The deal comes despite Paramount's parent companies continuing to fight over a $1.76 billion lawsuit. The films can be rented through YouTube and Google's new service called, Google Play. The last company to hold out at the moment is 20th Century Fox, owned by News Corp. Apple-owned iTunes sells films from all six studios - Paramount, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Comcast Universal and 20th Century Fox. There is still no comment on whether Google will sell the DVDs as well as renting them. Rumour has it that Google is in talks with film studios to begin selling movies through Google Play.