It's been at least a year since I used by Blockbuster card. The other day I was cleaning out my wallet and found it still sitting in there, contemplated the fact of it's existence, and then promptly threw it out. I may have to go dumpster diving now, assuming I ever want to watch a Weinstein Company movie. Weinstein has just signed an exclusive, exploitative deal with Blockbuster to make them the ONLY place you'll be able to rent Weinstein Company distributed movies.
That means if you want to watch the new Robert Rodriguez movie you can't get it from Netflix. You can't rent it at Hollywood Video. You can't rent it from the local mom and pop video store. You must go to Blockbuster. Don’t have a Blockbuster near you? Of course you do, they're everywhere. You'll have no trouble renting Grind House.
The video rental business is in it's last days folks, and deals like this are only going to help it along to an early grave. Blockbuster is as evil a corporate monopoly as there is, and if anything a deal like this is only going to drive a lot of people back to illegal downloading, or (I'm sure Weinstein is hoping for this) talk a lot of people into just buying the movie outright.
Really, that's how I handle most of my DVD viewing these days anyway. It's so much easier. There's a Movie Trading Company near my house, and it's easy enough and cheap enough to go in there and buy something rather than rent it. If I don't like it, I can sell it back to them and use the money to buy something else. If I do like it, it stays on my shelf. When DVDs cost $6 or more to rent, and you can buy them for $15, and you take into account all the hassle and misery of taking it back and the absolutely horrible selection found at places like Blockbuster… renting is out. This only helps it move a little faster towards being dead and in the box.
Below is the transcript of Weinstein's official press release on the subject. Luckily, they don't put out many good movies anyway so I say let Ballbuster have em.
| THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY (TWC), the multi-media enterprise launched by movie industry icons Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI, BBI.B) today announced a groundbreaking four-year exclusive alliance, which provides Blockbuster with exclusive US rental rights to TWC’s theatrical and direct-to-video movies, beginning on Jan. 1, 2007. Under the terms of the agreement, TWC and Blockbuster will share rental revenues from TWC’s theatrical and direct-to-video titles. Genius Products, LLC, TWC’s exclusive home entertainment distributor, will provide distribution services to TWC in connection with the deal. This deal however, does not include the exclusive rights in connection with retail sell-thru sales of TWC’s home entertainment product.“We are very excited about our alliance with Blockbuster, as we believe it will bring our company increased access to millions of consumers. Blockbuster is an industry leader of in-home entertainment and is highly committed to their customers’ experience,” said Bob and Harvey Weinstein, co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company. “As movie lovers, we have always aimed to produce and acquire films that people will enjoy, so we feel that this agreement is a win-win for TWC, Blockbuster and for consumers. The unique combination of Blockbuster’s established in-store retail experience with the power of their online subscription service was one of the biggest factors that attracted us to this alliance.Through the agreement, Blockbuster will carry future theatrical and direct-to-video titles released by TWC and will have a three-year rental exclusivity for each title released. In exchange for exclusivity, Blockbuster will pay TWC a minimum guarantee, determined by box office performance, for each theatrical picture, and based on the acquisition or production costs for each DTV title.Some of the first films available for rent exclusively at Blockbuster will include: “Bobby,” starring Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Store, Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan; “School for Scoundrels,” starring Billy Bob Thornton; “The Protector,” the full-bodied martial arts action film starring Thai sensation Tony Jaa; “Shut Up & Sing,” a documentary following the Dixie Chicks recording their first album after making political statements prior to the Iraq War; “Miss Potter,” the Beatrix Potter biopic starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor; “Grindhouse,” the thrilling double feature from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez that will recall both filmmakers’ favorite exploitation films; “The Nanny Diaries,” based on the New York Times No. 1 best-selling book of the same name, starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti; and “Arthur and The Invisibles,” the larger-than-life CGI animated family adventure.“Bob and Harvey Weinstein are legendary producers whose movies have long been customer favorites at Blockbuster,” said Blockbuster Chairman and CEO John Antioco. “As evidenced by our recent introduction of Blockbuster Total Access™, Blockbuster is always looking for ways to give our customers the products and services they want - and can’t find any place else - and this agreement will enable us to do just that. Now, as the exclusive rental provider, we’ll be the only place, in-store and online, that can guarantee customers a wide selection of The Weinstein Company films available for rent.”The Weinsteins have produced some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies over the past two decades, including “Chicago,” “Cold Mountain,” “Gangs of New York,” and “Kill Bill Volume 1.” In addition to their box office success, these titles also rank among the top-performing rental titles at Blockbuster. Recently, TWC’s “Derailed” was the No. 1 home video rental title for the entire rental industry in its debut week and is one of the top rental titles year-to-date, and “Lucky Number Slevin” was the No.1 home video rental title for the entire rental industry in its first two weeks of release.Blockbuster plans to showcase the TWC movies in special sections in its stores and online. It will also offer customers the TWC movies under its in-store guaranteed availability program, which guarantees customers that select movies will be in-stock or they get a “rain-check” free rental coupon for that movie. Blockbuster also plans to share general trending information with TWC, such as the types of movies and actors the Blockbuster consumer would like to see more of, which could provide valuable insights for future film projects. |
