Gizmodo
It's confirmed. Apple will release all new movies from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios on the same day as their DVD release, for $14.99. Full press release after the jump.
Purchase New Movies on iTunes Same Day as DVD Release CUPERTINO, Calif., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes(R) Store ( http://www.itunes.com ) on the same day as their DVD release. New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod(R) with video, iPhone(TM), Mac(R) or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV(R), with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99. "We're thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favorites from major and independent studios." New releases available for purchase on the iTunes Store this week, concurrent with their DVD release, include "American Gangster" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Other popular titles now available for purchase include "Juno," "Cloverfield," "I Am Legend," "There Will Be Blood," "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over six million songs, 600 TV shows and over 1,500 films including 200 in stunning high definition video. With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as new iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online. Pricing & Availability Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac or Windows require iTunes 7.6.2, available as a free download immediately from http://www.itunes.com. iTunes movie purchases and rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. iTunes Movies are available in the US only and are $9.99 (US) for library title purchases and $14.99 (US) for new release purchases and $2.99 (US) for library title rentals and $3.99 (US) for new release rentals, and high definition rental versions are priced just one dollar more with library title rentals at $3.99 (US) and new release rentals at $4.99 (US). Short films are available to rent for 99 cents (US). Movies can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.
Comments
Now the studios need to make some descent flicks.
@bms: That's the hardest part.
I believe I just read something on Yahoo that said "Major Studios to release movies on iTunes and OnDemand on same day as DVD release."
Is this the same story, but from an iTunes perspective instead of the movie studios perspective?
I wonder if I go to Comcast's website will they have the news as "OnDemand now releases movies on DVD release day"?
what about renting? can i rent same day yet? thats what i want!!
Redbox > xvid works for me
$14.99 a movie are they smoking crack?
OR... you download movies illegally in DVD quality a week before it comes out :)
Why would I pay $15 to NOT own something that I can rent for netflix then send back? I don't understand people that have huge collections of DVDs - Is "Big Mommas House" and "Air Force One" really worth keeping around for 4-8 years until the format is worthless?
why pay that much for a compressed download when you can usually get the physical DVD release week from BB or wherever for $9.99?
Astonishing.
This won't affect Walmart since the crowd that shops there is soooo not the "Apple" type crowd...you trend to find people that can't even spell the word computer much less own one.
@WD40: you mean ..... walmart caters to white trash??????? noooo wayyyy..... haha
Apple could offer every DVD made but that wouldn't make me happy given their image quality. I've got Netflix and Blu Ray, and Apple's offerings don't even match regular DVD quality. Their movies certainly wouldn't look good on my 106" projection screen. I'm sure Joe Consumer would be thrilled, but those of us ponying up for 1080p HDTVs will want better.
Now they need a 'Netflix' type subscription plan. $30 per month all you can eat.
Did anyone else notice that Universal was on that list?
Even tho it's funny how NBC pulled it's content last fall after a temper-tantrum_ Does this mean that perhaps NBC content [Battlestar Galactica] might also find it's way back to the iTMS?
How come they only sell HD movies through Apple TV? Watching the regular movies on iTunes on just my 32" sucks because I can see all the compression artifacts in the background.
There's no way I'll EVER in a million years buy an Apple TV, but if they gave me an option to rent or buy HD movies on iTunes, I'd at least try it.
@WD40: It depends on the city the Wal-Mart is located in. I've lived in tiny little towns where the Wal-Mart is the social meeting place for everyone from doctors to farmers, and everything is purchased there.
But yes, in a town like Houston, Wal-Marts are not where you're going to find anybody you want to talk 'puters with.
@baltwade: Apparently Warner Bros. announced they're releasing dvds for on demand same day too....I don't know about other companys though.
gizmodo
Mixed bag, I am afraid. Fifteen bucks is about ten bucks too much given the quality of product. Still, I have to give them kudos for even getting these studios to agree to it.
@GeekyNerdGuy:
HDCP
@Galley: But my video card is HDCP compliant ...
@imTheKing: one of the local walmarts here in tennessee is talking about valet service. they are just trying to get it ok'd with corporate.
@liveinvt: If you read the press release there is info about rental fees. $5 for a new HD movies. So, compared to Netflix, same price, pros : potentially almost instant delivery, no physical media to return, cons : lower quality, no extras.
@redman042: "...Apple's offerings don't even match regular DVD quality. Their movies certainly wouldn't look good on my 106" projection screen."
So, you haven't even tried and just like to bash? And how a clip encoded to HD resolution with modern codec could not match DVD quality? Unless you are the kind of person who just can't enjoy a movie if you know the audio is not lossless, no matter if you are able to hear the difference or not.
@ara: It's true I didn't read the press release. I was too busy putting a moment's worth of platitudes re: netflix into my comment box ;)
Something I do like about Netflix that I take advantage of is their ability to stream movies to your computer from their website in addition to the physical media mail rental. And now with laptop-video-out to my nice big HDTV, it's just about as good as getting the DVD itself.
I do give props to Apple for getting on the video-media-streaming-delivery product.
@ara: The quality of the SD Apple rentals are bad -- like seriously bad. I'm not picky about lossless audio or any of that, but you can see grain and artifacts from the compression all over the screen, and I don't even have a big TV. I tried it, and then I went right back to renting DVDs.
@ara: Actually redman042 is right about the quality. But it's not just Apple, it's all the streaming content providers. There are several articles on the web that break down each service and show how much they compress and what their relative qualities are. Netflix has the lowest average bitrate and therefor quality, but they only do SD and not HD. Apple has the lowest bitrate and quality of all services that offer HD movies to the point that their HD movies actually have slightly less quality than a standard DVD.
@WD40: Or people who can't spell tend.
@GeekyNerdGuy & baltwade: Uh, that sounds really bad. I was under impression the HD download rentals have about the same bitrate that DVD's do, making them better as codecs are more sophisticated.
@liveinvt: Press releases are huge bore to read anyways. : P
for some of you, if you can read. It says you can buy the movie for $15 and you own it, or rent it for 3.99 (new releases)
Sort it out so that people outside the US can get films at all, and I'll be happy. All the Apple TV here is a $400 (cheaper version) paperweight, which just plays HD trailers.
I just checked and Cloverfield isn't available for rent. Neither is There Will Be Blood or AVP2. I want to see them but I don't want to own them. I consider it a half victory for Apple users.
Video killed the radio star? Well DRM killed the video download. How do I know Apple and iTunes are going to be around 10 years from now? I have plenty of DVDs that are almost that old. Microsoft suddenly decides to stop supporting Plays for Sure and now anyone who trusted Microsoft is screwed next time they want to upgrade their computer.
And if I buy HD movies from Apple and they're stuck on my Aple TV, what happens if my Apple TV dies? Sounds like I lose my collection of movies. I can't backup an Apple TV. Had drives die. I had a new western digital die on me last week.
There's no way I'm paying the same for a DRM crippled, compressed and overall crappy version of a movie as what I can pay a couple buck more for the same thing on a tangible DVD.
Maybe Redbox has ruined me, but $5 for a video rental? Give me a break. With the high availability of freebie codes for Redbox means I pay nothing for movie rentals.
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