Blockbuster Grasps at Relevance, Buys Indie Cred
According to Variety, fading DVD rental behemoth Blockbuster Video has signed a two-year deal with indie distributor IFC Films that will make it the exclusive rental outlet for IFC titles.
For 60 days following a DVD’s release date, Blockbuster will control digital and physical rentals and the title will not be available for retail. For a three year period after the initial 60 days, DVDs will be available for retail and will be available for download from other sources, but Blockbuster will continue to hold the physical rental rights.
In return, IFC will share the rental revenue of its titles with Blockbuster and those titles will get enhanced exposure in the retail outlets and at Blockbuster.com.
In other words, if you plan to rent Paranoid Park or Savage Grace or Dans Paris or Hannah Takes the Stairs any time in the next three years, you’ll be doing it at Blockbuster.
I won’t do business with Blockbuster because they are inherently evil and I can’t help but think IFC is shooting themselves in the foot with this one by limiting themselves to the last place on earth people go looking for indie cinema.
Oh well. Good luck to them.
Filed under: Miscellaneous
Pardon my language, but this is bullshit. So they’re expecting hordes of people to trek to Blockbuster where there’ll be shelves lined with DVD copies of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days? This burns me up because not only is it profoundly goofy corporate decision-making that won’t help them in the long run at all, but I don’t want to have anything to do with this evil store. IFC screwed the pooch here.
Wow, that is so retarded. Please tell me this is a joke because I will not set foot in a Lackluster under any circumstances.
Exactly.
At first I was thinking “OK, if it exposes indie films to a wider audience, this is good”, unfortunately it’s happening at the expense of the mom and pops stores and Netflix and anyone else who caters to the indie crowd. Netflix I’m not too worried about, but the independently run brick and mortar stores.
Plus I question how much exposure this is going to amount to for IFC.
“Sorry honey, they’d already rented the 40th copy of Norbit so I got Dans Paris instead”
Hahahahaha….that would be hilarious.
Course we both know that isn’t likely to happen. The big loser here are the filmmakers relying on IFC to get their little movies made and into theaters and on TV screens.
All the folks out there that rely on Netflix, that didn’t even have a Mom & Pop store to rent from in the first place, what are they supposed to do? Sure, they can go to their local Blockbuster but why should they have to?
Are Paranoid Park or Saving Grace really all that big a draw? Methinks not.
I was just talking about this very thing with a co-worker today. We were saying that Blockbuster’s business must be in the toilet because of Netflix. Big chain strikes back.
According to that Variety article, Lackluster stock is at an all time low, around 3 bucks a share.
You’re right Joel, this move doesn’t make the movies any more available to people who want them, it makes them less so. All it does is expose the titles to people who only rent from Lackluster. One or two copies buried in the new release section awash with WIld Hogs and Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Hottie and the Nottie isn’t going to do much I’m afraid.
Serves Cocksucker Video right for their years of censoring movies not to mention their unholy deal with studios that kept NC-17 films from being released.
And Justice For All!
…not to mention all the independently owned video stores they ran out of towns all across the country. May they rot in hell.
They reap what they sew. I have issues with Netflix but I just can’t fathom doing business with Blockbuster.
I suppose this means I’m going to have to be more vigilant about catching IFC movies I’m really interesting in seeing in theaters or paying Comcast for the option to download them via OnDemand and watching them at home, at least I assume that’s what the “after 60 days” rights imply will be possible.
Regardless, it’s retarded. It’s no different though than the Weinsteins signing a 4-year exclusive rental deal with Blockbuster back in 2006 though. Note this deal must have fell through because I can get Grindhouse from Netflix, a movie made and released AFTER this deal was signed.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6391512.html
I did a little more digging. This showed up on the Netflix Wikipedia page, which if correct implies this deal with IFC may have a huge loop hole:
“In Fall of 2006, Blockbuster signed a deal with The Weinstein Company, that gives them exclusive rental rights for the studio’s films, starting January 1, 2007.[25] This would force Netflix to obtain copies from mass merchants or retailers, instead of dealing with the company. [26] Netflix has speculated that this might result in higher costs and/or smaller quantities purchased. [27] As of June 2007, Netflix continues to rent Weinstein DVDs. They now have Unknown, School For Scoundrels, and Harsh Times, among others. The First Sale Doctrine allows Netflix and other video rental businesses to rent movies released by the Weinstein Company, but the long-term effects of the Blockbuster/The Weinstein Company deal remain uncertain.”
That’s really interesting Joel. It’s up to Netflix to decide if its worth their extra cost and it probably reduces the total number of titles they carry, but I like that they have a loophole and have already taken advantage of it.
I don’t see why they can’t/won’t do the same thing with IFC titles. At the moment it looks like Netflix has listings for Dans Paris and Hannah Takes the Stairs and probably others, but the release date is listed as unknown.
*struggles to open door, both hands carrying bursting Blockbuster bags*
Hey guys, I got a great selection here for our – oh. Um…
*room falls silent, steps back through door*
Not a lot fans here, eh? No bother to me. Let it be known that I’ve never had a Blockbuster account in my life. I don’t have a Netflix account either, so I guess that’s not saying much, but this still doesn’t bode well. Anytime any corporate giant has rights to art I get a funny feeling. No offense to those of you have implanted iPods, but sometimes I feel like Steve Jobs has his eyes on the prize in the same way.
Funny Daniel.
So, uh, what’d you rent?
Sigh… good thing I’ve already seen THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS (another recent IFC release), or else I would have to wait even longer to catch up with it. I’m sort of allergic to Blockbuster. It got especially hard when back in the pre-Netflix era I lived for a year in a small town where all they had was a Blockbuster. I ended up biting the bullet and getting a membership, but believe me it was rough. Now that I live in a city with plenty of other renting options, I have no reason to go there except for their occasional sales on previously-viewed DVDs, which allow me to beef up my collection without spending a whole lot.
Also, it’s gonna get reeeeeeeeeeally interesting when SAVAGE GRACE gets a DVD release. It’s being released unrated and would almost certainly be an NC-17. Given BB’s no-NC-17 policy, I’ll be curious to see how they handle the movie. And by curious, I mean “most likely sickened.”
“It got especially hard when back in the pre-Netflix era I lived for a year in a small town where all they had was a Blockbuster.” Exactly. They’re like the Walmart of video stores. Easy enough to avoid in a city, but smaller towns don’t have a choice.
You guys hate BlockBuster for no reason at all. What a bunch of babys! Go freaking shoot yourself in the foot or something. I think I’ll go blow up Netflix for the lulz. When people want to watch a movie, they want it now vs 2days later because of the mail. BlockBuster is just trying to make money like any other company
That’s awesome.
It’s a year later of awesome. I blame myself for being so down on Blockbuster. Like McDonalds and 7/11, they’re clearing filling a niche of awesome that I was blind to.
Lulz, Awesome.
The name isn’t BlockBuster. That sounds like how Christopher Walken would say it.
I love it when trolls like Awesome can’t spell, LOL!
Normally I don’t feed the trolls, but any troll named Awesome is almost too good to pass up.
LOL, Jeff!
You guys are funny. We’ll see who’s crying when Blockbuster goes out of business.