Fox to Cut Back on Rental DVD Features
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:18 pm
A lot of people are probably aware that many top drawer films that are released on DVD are released in two versions, a cheaper, stripped down version with only movie, and a deluxe or special edition, usually two discs, that adds extra features like commentary, interviews, deleted scenes and documentaries, for about $5-10 more. Typically, there will only be one Blu ray version of the film, which will include all the features on the deluxe version.
Fox is now taking that practice one step further. Beginning with the March 31 release of Slumdog Millionaire, there will be separate sale and rental versions of most current DVDs and Blu rays. These will have separate SKUs to identify them from each other. The rental version of Millionaire, which will be distributed to Blockbuster and, presumably, Netflix, will have the movie and trailer only, while the retail version, which will be sold on Amazon, Best Buy, etc., will also have deleted scenes and commentaries. Fox isn't being consistent with what it's doing with its titles however. Marley and Me, being released the same day will have the same bonus features on both the rental and retail versions (although the Blu ray rental version of Marley will differ from the retail version).
Some local video stores plan to get around these restrictions by buying a handful of titles at full price from discount houses like Wal Mart so they have them available for those customers who want to rent the "full" version of the film.
This won't mean anything to people who buy (or rent) movies just to see the movie itself, but for those interested in the features, renting them or buying them second hand (such as from Blockbuster used DVD sales, on Ebay, or in bargain bins at dollar stores) becomes much more problematic and will require people to do some homework in order to make sure they know what they will be getting.
Fox is now taking that practice one step further. Beginning with the March 31 release of Slumdog Millionaire, there will be separate sale and rental versions of most current DVDs and Blu rays. These will have separate SKUs to identify them from each other. The rental version of Millionaire, which will be distributed to Blockbuster and, presumably, Netflix, will have the movie and trailer only, while the retail version, which will be sold on Amazon, Best Buy, etc., will also have deleted scenes and commentaries. Fox isn't being consistent with what it's doing with its titles however. Marley and Me, being released the same day will have the same bonus features on both the rental and retail versions (although the Blu ray rental version of Marley will differ from the retail version).
Some local video stores plan to get around these restrictions by buying a handful of titles at full price from discount houses like Wal Mart so they have them available for those customers who want to rent the "full" version of the film.
This won't mean anything to people who buy (or rent) movies just to see the movie itself, but for those interested in the features, renting them or buying them second hand (such as from Blockbuster used DVD sales, on Ebay, or in bargain bins at dollar stores) becomes much more problematic and will require people to do some homework in order to make sure they know what they will be getting.