You're not dreaming: 'Inception' kiosk rentals are $3 per night

'Inception' and 'Knight & Day' will be used to test whether consumers are willing to pay more than $1 per night to rent a popular new movie from kiosks in grocery stores and other retail locations.

NCR Corp., which operates DVD rental kiosks under the Blockbuster brand, on Tuesday began a planned premium pricing test in select markets.

Its approximately 900 kiosks in four cities will offer "Inception," which came out on DVD this week, and "Knight & Day," which debuted last week, for $2.99 the first night and $1 for each subsequent night. Historically, NCR and its largest competitor, Redbox, have charged $1 per night for all movies.

NCR's test is intended to determine whether some consumers would be willing to pay a premium for new releases instead of waiting to pay $1. The four test markets are Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, and San Francisco.

NCR previously said it would begin a premium pricing test that would include "Knight & Day" as part of a content distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the movie. However at the time it hadn't yet decided on the $2.99 price or confirmed another film would be included in the test.

Three of the six major studios in Hollywood, including Fox and "Inception" distributor Warner Bros., have publicly complained that $1 per night is too low a price for new releases and that such offers undercut more profitable DVD sales. As a result, they have called for Redbox and NCR to not offer new-release DVDs until at least four weeks after they go on sale and have struck deals that mandate a delay.

While "Knight & Day" is being included with Fox's consent as part of the previous deal, NCR is using "Inception" without the participation of Warner Bros., which doesn't have a content agreement with the kiosk company.

-- Ben Fritz

Related:

Fox to test premium pricing for DVD kiosk rentals starting with 'Knight & Day'

Comments

[suz]

Um wow who'd rent movies at redbox then? 3 dollars per night? It costs like 5 dollars at blockbuster to rent for a couple of days..

And it sucks if you have to wait a month after to even rent it!

[mslewis]

"Inception" maybe but "Knight and Day"?? No way is that thing worth more than a dollar.

[brandon]

Blockbuster has always overpriced their customers. Management/owners seem to be tone deaf, and that's what led them to file Chapter 11. They couldn't keep up with the paradigm shift.

As long as Redbox keeps prices down, I'll be supporting them with my $.