Actually, this might be a problem. If Blockbuster starts slowing down, then all the direct to DVD movies that make most of their profit off of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video presales will be in big trouble! The small budget video market has changed a lot in the past decade, and with this it may morph into something unrecognizable! We might see less low budget films on rental shelves, limiting potential viewership of those titles. This will probably cause an increase in oversea sales (but at cheaper prices due to desperation) and also more low budget fare on streaming sites, or even “buy this DVD off a website (or a download) for a small fee” type deals. As much as I hate Blockbuster, they do allow for a fair bit of terrible films to make enough money to keep making more terrible films. And that loss will be a loss heartfelt here at TarsTarkas.NET and all cult movie sites. Imagine if The Asylum was unable to make enough money off of The Terminators or Transmorphers 2 and had to stop doing mockbusters? The world would be devastated! Maybe Blockbuster can do something to weather this storm and survive, but their current way of making money is limited. I don’t think streaming will become mainstream for a long time, so I really don’t know what would happen if Blockbuster were to go under.
Blockbuster might go bankrupt!
Oh, no! Blockbuster video might declare bankruptcy! Where will I rent my NC-17 movies edited down to R, or rent a terrible collection of foreign films, or hardly any films made after the 1980s? Netflix style rentals are eventually the wave of the future (or the rentals from $1 vending machines like I do) and Blockbuster telegraphed this with their changing of their own Netflix copycat service (making the wait between movies longer)
2 Comments
John (patty) Jacobs
March 22, 2009 at 1:02 pmBlockbuster is not going bankrupt. Blockbuster was one of the few profiting companies in 2008. Blockbuster is looking at refinancing millions of dollars in loans. The banks said show us all of your resources, money, and all other alternatives to the loan before we will offer anything. One of the alternatives to the loan (which in no way Blockbuster will do) is bankruptcy. If Blockbuster would go under, well the crappy, non-customer-friendly vending machines will raise their prices. The small film industry would go under (more job losses) and independent film companies would go too. As for the older films that are not in the store… look for them to come on Blu-ray and ask the production companies why then don’t mass produce these titles on DVD anymore. Blockbuster is trying to keep updated with these struggling times and will not go bankrupt anytime soon.
Tars Tarkas
March 24, 2009 at 6:05 amYes, I am totally concerned with customer service, that’s why I go to vending machines where I don’t have to deal with surly employees forced to try to get me to sign up with Blockbuster Online.