Hollywood Popular Artists

By Zachary Swickey

A new Bob Marley documentary – simply titled "Marley" – will be hitting theaters next Friday (appropriately on 4/20), but the production company has revealed the film will be available to stream on Facebook simultaneous with its theatrical release.

Shangri-La Entertainment, Tuff Gong Pictures and Milyoni touts in a press release that Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald's career-encompassing documentary about the icon will be the first ever U.S. release to be made available for streaming on Facebook the same day it hits theaters.

With the assistance of Milyoni's Social Cinema technology, Facebook users will be able to instantly stream the film from the Bob Marley Facebook page for just $6.99. Currently, over 37 million fans "like" the Bob Marley Facebook page, which easily makes it one of the top 20 most popular pages in the world.

MacDonald has directed many interesting projects over the years: the jaw-dropping mountain survival documentary "Touching the Void" in 2003, Academy Award-nominated "The Last King of Scotland" from 2006, and last year's "Life in a Day," which was made entirely from footage culled from YouTube.

A portion of the proceeds from Facebook sales of "Marley" will benefit Save the Children.

"We are delighted that awareness of children's needs will be raised through this innovative effort," said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children, in the release. "We are proud to use funds generated through this on-demand movie release for the children we serve."

"Marley" will also be released through video-on-demand on April 20.

For more on "Marley," visit MTV Movies Blog.