Redbox today announced that they will expand the offerings in their rental kiosks, offering a variety of older movies, rarities, and other niche titles. The hope is to appeal to Netflix’s DVD-by-mail subscribers, now that Netflix has abandoned the business model after more than 25 years. As the streaming giant closes its DVD operations this week, Redbox will work to provide movies that the former DVD.com audience will enjoy in its approximately 29,000 Redbox kiosks nationwide. That’s a big step forward for Redbox; if you compare their operations to video rental giants of the past like Blockbuster, those 29,000 locations would have made it the biggest franchise in the country, but Redbox has always struggled to compete when it came to the variety of their catalog.
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Titles being added this week will include hard-to-find films such as Ugly Dolls, catalog titles including Jerry Maguire, and films from third parties that include Vertical and Decal. These titles are in addition to the new releases major studios that are Redbox’s bread and butter.
“Redbox continues to be a destination for millions of consumers, and we’re thrilled to expand our kiosk offerings to include hard-to-find titles and classic movies that everyone enjoys,” said William J. Rouhana, Jr., chief executive officer and chairman of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. “We are expanding our content offerings at approximately 29,000 kiosks to include third-party studio titles and new movies such as Barbie and Oppenheimer, which will be available in the coming months. I look forward to hearing from former DVD.com customers on the titles they want to see at our kiosks.”
Starting Friday, September 29, and running through Sunday, October 1, Redbox will launch a “Show Us Your Red Envelope” (get it? Like Jerry Maguire again?) social media campaign. Redbox has made a tweet calling for customers to share photos of their Netflix red envelopes, and those who participate may receive a free movie night. Former DVD.com customers can also submit suggestions on the titles they want to rent in kiosks.
Redbox, owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, reportedly tried to buy Netflix’s DVD.com and its inventory after the streamer first announced they were dropping out of the market, but Netflix declined the offer. Instead, they plan to liquidate much of their collection by simply sending random DVDs to users after the service reaches its end of life.
Redbox launched over 20 years ago, and has rented over two billion discs across thousands of titles. This year, the most popular films at Redbox kiosks include The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Plane, and Cocaine Bear.
