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Warner Bros. follows other studios' lead, pulls new releases from redbox

August 13, 2009

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According to the L.A. Times, Warner Bros. has joined Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox in the fight against redbox. The Time Warner-owned studio announced its plan to restrict distribution of new releases to the compnay until 28 days after their release.

Speculation is that a lawsuit from redbox may follow the Warner Bros. announcement, if its historical responses to Universal and Fox are any indication.

The Times says Time Warner believes DVD-rental kiosks will eventually go the way of $1 movie theaters, which do not show new films until well after they're released:

All of those studios are concerned that redbox's $1-per-night rentals are undercutting more lucrative rentals from other services and DVD sales. On a conference call after the conglomerate's most recent quarterly earnings report, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes compared redbox to theaters that show movies several months after they premiere: 'In general, we think there may well be a role for $1 rental kiosk,' he said, 'just like $1 movie theaters.

The studio also is restricting its distribution to online-rental service Netflix, unless the company agrees to a more lucrative revenue-share model.