blockbuster: a series of rheotorical questions

[Anonymous Joe]

Ha anyone heard of Blockbuster editing the movies they carry? A friend of mine rented The Royal Tennenbaums and told me they cut out some parts with nudity, and when Royal gets stabed by Pagoda. 

[MacGuffin]

Blockbuster to accept online DVD returns at stores

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Blockbuster Inc. said on Wednesday it was changing its online movie rental policy to let customers exchange DVDs through the mail or at its stores.

The program, which allows subscribers to double their monthly rentals, comes as Blockbuster strives to meet its online subscriber goals and shore up store-based rentals in an industry that has suffered through a year-long contraction.

Under the new Total Access plan, which begins on Wednesday, customers can receive free in-store movie rentals if they return to stores those DVDs that are rented online.

Rival online DVD rental company Netflix Inc. operates only through the mail.

Analysts saw the program as possibly helping Blockbuster to get to its year-end subscriber goal of 2 million.

Blockbuster said it added about 150,000 net subscribers to its online program during the third quarter. At the end of September, it had about 1.5 million online subscribers.

Even so, Jeffries & Co analyst Youssef Squali said that "the competitive landscape continues to favor Netflix."

"While positive, (Blockbuster's) launch of Total Access is not likely to change the dynamics of the marketplace for Netflix, in our view," Squali wrote in a note on Wednesday.

But Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said the program addresses one of the main reasons subscribers leave Netflix -- because they have to wait for movies.

"Blockbuster gives you immediate gratification," Pachter said. "I think a substantial number are likely to consider switching to Blockbuster."

For each online rental exchanged at Blockbuster stores, customers can get a free in-store movie rental plus a free in-store rental coupon each month.

Movies exchanged or obtained with coupons in stores do not count against the total number of DVDs that online customers are allowed by their subscription plan, but those rentals are subject to in-store due dates, Blockbuster said.

Blockbuster said that by returning movies to a store, online renters will speed up delivery of their next movie.

Blockbuster Chief Executive John Antioco told Reuters that the program would result in "a moderate increase" in costs, but was expected to boost in-store traffic and associated revenue.

He expected subscriber acquisition costs and churn, or subscriber cancellations, to drop as a result of Total Access.

"Consumers are telling us that this will make a difference in their in-store and on-line choices and makes a difference to consumers who are doing pay-per-view and pay television," Antioco said on Wednesday. "We are the only ones that can give them store and online movies in the home video window."

Shares of Blockbuster were up 8 cents, or 2 percent, at $4 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.

[modage]

The Weinstein Company and Blockbuster have announced that all future theatrical and made-for-DVD movies (within the United States) will be made available for rental - exclusively - through Blockbuster's internet and store based outlets. This means that those who normally rent titles produced by The Weinstein Company will have to become a member of Blockbuster to continue doing this - Blockbuster has obtained a three year exclusivity period for each new title.

Exclusive titles will include: Bobby - starring Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Store, Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan; School for Scoundrels - starring Billy Bob Thornton; The Protector - a martial arts film starring Tony Jaa; Shut Up & Sing - a documentary following the Dixie Chicks recording their first album after the Iraq War; Miss Potter - the Beatrix Potter biopic starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor; Grindhouse - the double feature from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez; The Nanny Diaries - starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti; and Arthur and The Invisibles - the CGI animated family adventure.

This deal will not affect existing titles such as Lucky # Slevin - which has maintained a high position in the rental charts for recent months. Retail sales of all Weinstein titles will also remain unaffected and will continue to be distributed by Genius Products.

The agreement begins on January and is secured for the next four years. Blockbuster additionally plans to present a select range of The Weinstein Company movies through special displays in-store, and will arrange an agreement whereby if a particular title in the selection is out-of-stock then a free rental voucher will be provided to the customer.

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wow, if this is for real, what a terrible idea!  are they seriously not going to rent their titles anywhere outside of blockbuster?  its a good thing outside of Grind House (which i will buy) they havent made a single film worth seeing!

[RegularKarate]

More reason to hate the Weinsteins and Blockbuster... this is retarded.

EDIT: Does this mean that independant rental companies can't rent it out either?  Fuck them!  Fuck them in thier ridiculously greedy asses... this calls for a boycott.

[Ravi]

its a good thing outside of Grind House (which i will buy) they havent made a single film worth seeing!

True, though I don't like the deal because of the precedent it might set.  Will other companies follow suit with similar deals with Blockbuster or other rental outlets?

Does this mean that independant rental companies can't rent it out either?  Fuck them!  Fuck them in thier ridiculously greedy asses... this calls for a boycott.

Ironic that indie posterboys Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino will have some of their movies (if they keep making them with Weinstein) as Blockbuster exclusives for three years.