Is The 28 Day Redbox Window Working? Paramount Doesn’t Think So, Will Continue To Rent Out Their New Releases

With most of the talk these days coming from the realm of video rental outlets, it looks like theaters are having their own problems with the recent rise of both online streaming, as well as things like on demand and the ever shrinking window that is a films theatrical run.

A group representing theater owners and operators ran a full page ad in the trades on Wednesday telling studios to not adopt the ever popularizing idea of on demand distribution. This comes after the announcement by many studios that they would be willing to start offering new films roughly two months after the film’s theatrical release, albeit at a high price of $25.

With this news, also comes the announcement that one of these studios that the theater companies are so desperately trying to win over, has decided to go day and date with the spawn of cinematic Satan themselves, Redbox.

According to a press release this week, Paramount announced that they will be giving their DVDs over to Redbox for a day and date release, bypassing the 28-day window that has become the talking point of so many stories relating to film distribution these days. However much I dislike Redbox and what they do, this is definitely a win for the company.

Or is it?

According to Reuters, Alice In Wonderland will continue to be the number one selling DVD in the country, for the second consecutive week. Now, for those who remember, the DVD was released without submitting to the 28 day window, which would give companies four weeks to sell their DVD prior to releasing it to rental companies. What does this prove? Well, it either proves that Disney is too big of a name for the window to matter, or the window in and of itself doesn’t play as big of a part as one would think. I personally think it’s a combination of the two, because for those who go out and buy DVDs, either you don’t know a thing about this window, as most mainstream film buyers don’t, or it is a too small a window for it to really matter to you. People seem to buy these films no matter what, so at this point, it’s an issue that doesn’t seem to have an answer.

What do you think?

Source: Home Media Magazine / Deadline / Reuters