Spring break, circa 1922
With a hefty slate of Hollywood hits coming to home video this spring, retailers and renters are making plans to squeeze out every possible dollar, and Redbox is no exception. Some of the major titles to be released in March include Sony Pictures’ 2012, Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Summit’s New Moon and Warner’s The Blind Side. All of the above films grossed over $100 million at the box office, with Blind Side bringing in well over $200 million and New Moon earning close to $300 million.
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With the Academy Awards coming up next month, Redbox has launched a “Spotlight Awards” contest for its customers. To be eligible to enter, you must have or register for an account with Redbox.com. Entrants should watch some or all of the Oscar-nominated movies that are available for rent at Redbox and then click the “Vote Now” button on the site to answer a series of questions. The responses will be evaluated by a panel of judges, and the winner announced on March 10. The grand prize winner will receive 365 free rentals, and up to 2,000 runners up will receive a free rental. Full details on the contest can be found here. Good luck, Insiders!
Here are the movies coming to Redbox this week. What do you plan to watch?
A Dangerous Man NR
Starring:
Steven Seagal
Genre:
Action & Adventure
Release Year:
2010
movie details / trailer
Couples Retreat PG-13
Starring:
Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn
Genre:
Comedy
Release Year:
2009
movie details / trailer
I Hate Valentine's Day PG-13
Starring:
John Corbett, Nia Vardalos
Genre:
Comedy, Romance
Release Year:
2009
movie details / trailer
Ice Castles (2010) PG
Starring:
Henry Czerny, Rob Mayes, Taylor Firth
Genre:
Drama, Romance
Release Year:
2009
movie details / trailer
Maneater (2009 mini-series) NR
Starring:
Judy Greer, Philip Winchester, Sarah Chalke
Genre:
Comedy, Romance, Television
Release Year:
2009
movie details / trailer
Minor Details PG
Starring:
Caitlin E.J. Meyer, Kelsey Edwards
Genre:
Family
Release Year:
2009
movie details / trailer
Serious Moonlight R
Starring:
Kristen Bell, Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton
Genre:
Comedy
Release Year:
2008
movie details / trailer
The Stepfather NR
Starring:
Amber Heard, Penn Badgley
Genre:
Drama, Horror, Suspense
Release Year:
2009
movie details / trailer
XIII: The Conspiracy R
Starring:
Stephen Dorff, Val Kilmer
Genre:
Suspense
Release Year:
2008
movie details / trailer
Giant robots + explosions + Megan Fox = $$$
Ever wonder what your favorite stars and Hollywood personalities are making? Vanity Fair has compiled a list of the top 40 Hollywood earners in 2009. The list includes the highest paid actors, directors and producers and was calculated by interviewing agents, lawyers, studio execs and actors. One lesson that can be gleaned from the list is that it’s often better to be behind the camera than in front of it, as only three actors cracked the top ten last year.
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NCR Corp., who licenses the BB name for its Blockbuster Express kiosks, plans for massive growth in 2010 and beyond for its newly created entertainment division. NCR CEO Bill Nuti said in a recent call with investors that the blue boxes represented the “headline event” of the year for NCR. The company plans on an installed base of 10,000 DVD rental kiosks by the end of this year and anticipates $125 million to $155 million in revenue from the blue boxes.
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Media conglomerate and Redbox antagonist Time Warner enjoyed a healthy fourth quarter of 2009, as revealed by CEO Jeff Bewkes during the company’s recent earnings conference call. With powerful growth coming from its film and television divisions, TW posted a profit of $627 million. In contrast, the company lost $16 billion during the same period in 2008. Time Warner also posted record profits in its film and television units for the full year of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
"It's not personal, Redbox. It's strictly business." -Walmart
The recent, much-publicized moves by retail giant Walmart and other retailers to limit quantities on new release DVD purchases may or may not be the products of collusion with studios, but could definitely be in the stores’ best interests. So says Pali Equity Research analyst Richard Greenfield in a recent Home Media Magazine piece. The article also suggests that the recent suspension of operations by kiosk operator e-Play was at least in part caused by Walmart’s ejection of the kiosks from their test locations.
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Redbox has fired the most recent shots in its seemingly eternal legal battle with Universal, Fox and Warner. In a court filing dated January 29, Redbox argued that its case against Warner should proceed based on the fact that a judge has already allowed Redbox’s similar case against Universal to move forward.
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Well, that didn’t take long. Hot on the heels of our story last week about Movie Gallery’s imminent insolvency comes the news that the Hollywood Video parent filed for bankruptcy this morning. The bankruptcy, Movie Gallery’s second since 2007, will be accompanied by the closure of 805 “poorly performing” locations.
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Today’s Blockbuster story comes from the good news/bad news file. The bruised and battered rental giant and its partner NCR have added 100 new Blockbuster Express kiosks in Arizona. The company has also announced the resignation of influential billionaire Carl Icahn from its board of directors. Read the rest of this entry »
