Report: iTunes Movie Rentals (Finally) on Deck

Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:40AM EDT

See Comments (8)

Rumors of Apple finally adopting a rental model for downloadable movies have been swirling for months, but now the Financial Times reports that a deal could be immanent—and that could mean many, many more movies for your iPod.

The Financial Times story says Apple is in "advanced talks" with the "largest" film studios about movie rentals on iTunes. According to the report, a 30-day rental (which, I'm guessing, would expire 24 hours after you first start watching) would cost $3, and you'd be able to transfer the movie from your desktop to your iPod or iPhone (well, yeah).

Part of the reason the big movie studios have been reluctant to sign with Apple's current, buy-to-own movie service is because they're worried about cannibalizing their DVD sales, the FT story says (although I'm sure privacy worries—the bogeyman of many a studio exec—loom even larger). But the studios are apparently much more interested in movie rentals, which they don't see as competition for their respective DVD businesses.

Well, whatever the reason, the possibility of an Apple-Hollywood movie rental deal is great news for iTunes users, who have been stuck with a disappointingly small slate of films since last year's movie store launch. Not only is the selection pretty slim, but also the idea of paying $14.99 to own "Wild Hogs" doesn't exactly wow me. Throw in more movies (from more studios) with a $3 rental fee, though, and I'd be clicking the download button much more often.

Would you rent movies from iTunes for $3 a pop? Let me know what you think.

Related:
Hollywood studios in video talks with Apple [Financial Times]

Comments on Report: iTunes Movie Rentals (Finally) on Deck

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 1 Posted by janettwokay on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    Perhaps. But 99-cents a pop would be much more realistic to the masses (and myself).

  • 2 Posted by rogueist on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    99 cents a rental is more realistic. $3 a pop is too much. Consider that I get about 30 to 50 DVDs a month with the cheap 3-disc at a time treatment from Netflix.

  • 3 Posted by dcsoccer25 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think $3 is a reasonable price for individual movies. Perhaps they could have plans made for people who rent often. Considering that songs on itunes are 99 cents, for say, 4 minutes of sound, it's really quite ridiculous for you to expect a 99 cent movie, even if it is a rental.

  • 4 Posted by ebonycullars on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    i think that for a month this is a REALLY good price 99 cents would be nice but that isnt very realistic

  • 5 Posted by somebodys_here on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    nope- not going to do it. I can always rent the movie and put it on my iPod if I want to. not that thats legal, but anyone can do it anyway- and according to the movie industry copying a movie you already own isn't legal either, but thats a different story in itself.

  • 6 Posted by gspet on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Because I do Netflix it's unlikely I'll rent from iTunes. However, there's times when I'm between mailings or the movie sitting on the table is something my wife wanted. Under those circumstances I'd be tempted, but not at $3. $1 definitely, $2 maybe. At $3 I'll wait for the mailman to do his thing.

  • 7 Posted by gdfthr855 on Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:24PM EDT Report Abuse

    Well i think that its a good idea, ive acctually been waiting for something like this. 99 cents in my opinion is way too cheap, i mean how will the companies ever make a profit? Any ways, im up for it! Cant wait.

  • 8 Posted by mdroszell on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can rent DVDs for $1 from the vending machine at my local grocery store... why would I pay $3?

More Posts: First Prev 1 2 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment