Amazon Removes Free Digital Movies After Error, Fans Furious

Some things really are too good to be true. Movie fans with Amazon Prime accounts rushed to grab some great deals on Wednesday, as news started spreading across social media that several movies had been marked down to $0. Digital copies of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Fugitive, A Christmas Story, Ernest Saves Christmas, The Replacements, and You, Me & Dupree were all listed for free, and Beetlejuice was being given away as a free rental. 

While it seemed like some kind of exciting digital movie promotion, it was actually an error on Amazon's part, and the company isn't going to be honoring any of the films that were redeemed. 

On Thursday afternoon, customers who redeemed the films began receiving emails from Amazon saying the orders were being cancelled. "The posted price was incorrect and therefore, we've cancelled your order for this item. You have not been charged."

Amazon has revoked the free movies from yesterday – looks like it was an error after all pic.twitter.com/R5qSBC78Nk

— Wario64 (@Wario64) March 28, 2024

Following the arrival of the emails, the films began disappearing from Prime Video accounts. The films are no longer available to anyone who redeemed them as part of the "error." 

Naturally, Amazon users are frustrated about the situation. Even if it was a pricing error, it was Amazon's error, not theirs. Some users even got booted out of the films while watching them. You can check out some of the reactions and responses from movie fans below.