No Special Features For Renters - Fox

I still buy DVDs all the time. No I haven't upgraded to Blu-Ray yet. I simply bought 2 upconvert HDMI players for both my Hi-Def TVs and they work great. Even better than my old progressive players.

As a fan and collector of DVDs, I purchase them often. I'm just a little bit smarter on how I buy them. The rule is, if it's more than $20 I won't buy it, period. If it's a must have new movie, I wait til Blockbuster or Hollywood Video has them for sale. I'll pick up their 4 for $20, or buy 4 for $8 each etc. Sure, the box might be a little banged up at times, but generally the DVDs have always worked pretty good. They also have a great return policy if they skip or dont work. (Damn you old Hollywood Video in Claremont that disappeared from Indian Hill & American! I miss you!)

If it's a new release and the whole family simply must see it, I go to Best Buy on a Tuesday and pick it up for their usual $16 new release price. If you do the math, this is much cheaper than taking the whole gang to the movie theater instead. And I can have some wine while I watch in full surround sound!


Now, let me get to the news just released by 20th Century Fox studios. It will all begin with their upcoming releases of DVDs such as The Wrestler, Marley & Me, Bride Wars, Notorious, The Day The Earth Stood Still and Slumdog Millionaire. They will begin selling DVDs to rental companies like Blockbuster in editions that contain only the movie with some trailers, but no commentaries, deleted scenes or other special features. Lately there seems to be a trend among major studios to release recent box office hits in single-disc and double-disc editions. The double-disc edition will contain nearly all the extra stuff.

Is it because most of us don't care for the extras? Or is it to make us buy the fully loaded DVD at the retail stores?

Maybe because the rental companies are making so much money renting and selling the movies, that people like me rarely buy a new movie?

Yeah, I think that's it personally. But I frankly never watch the commentaries or extras... but some movie buffs love all that extra stuff.

And with regard to some rental stores simply going around this and buying from retailers:

“There’s no question that some rentailers will go and buy from Wal-Mart and rent out the copies, and you can’t stop that,” added Engen. “But it’s not going to be that big of an issue as people think. The main thing is that studios have to add value to get customers to buy, and they aren’t buying. Numbers have been falling through the floor.”

Read more about it at: VideoBusiness.com