With major companies rushing to get in on delivering movies via the internet, it’s no surprise that Apple is getting into the game. Today they announced they’ll be extending their iTunes platform to make full length, feature films available to users… for a fee of course.
Variety says Hollywood expects their movie store to launch by the end of the year, though Apple and the studios involved have yet to reach an agreement on exactly how much downloadable movies will cost. Apple head Steve Jobs is reportedly pushing for $9.99 per movie, but studio executives are afraid to offer Apple users a better deal than the barefoot hordes of Wal-Mart shoppers get. Simply put, they’re afraid to piss off America’s all-powerful retail giant, and so want to force Apple to offer movies at variable pricing rates between $9.99 and $19.99 in order to price more popular content higher.
Of course, it makes no sense to download movies if they’re going to cost the same or more than running out and buying them. With discount DVDs sometimes going for under $12, why would you pay $19 to download a movie without a snazzy collector’s box which you can only watch on your computer and not on your lovely new high definition television? Even $9.99 might be more than most movie watchers are willing to pay for downloadable movies on demand.
Movies are about the only thing you can’t already get on iTunes. The service has already made big forays into delivering television content to their users, along with music, movie trailers, and podcasts. With the massive sales of Apple’s video iPods, users are clamoring for more video content. It’s only a matter of time before Hollywood and Apple work things out and finalize the deal.
