Redbox introduces "Redbox Replay" titles
Got some email from Redbox just now: Redbox re-introduces you to some of your favorite movies! Redbox Replay™ movies are classics, comedies, dramas and more – that you love to replay over and over again.
Recognizing the value of certain catalog titles, Redbox is now stocking its vending machines with classic movies that (however noxious you may find them personally) have proven their, er, replay value with moviewatchers time and time again.
Anaconda and Big Daddy I can kinda get, but Beverly Hills Ninja? Really? Is our cinematic heritage so sadly mixed that From Here to Eternity nestles next to Hook and The Cable Guy?
Redbox has proven its convenience to me a few times now -- it has the in-home comfort factor and search capabilities of Netflix with the immediacy of the corner rental store, and it's inexpensive. That we cinephiles must face the ugly truths about American moviewatching tastes is a small price to pay for the increased selection.
In related Redbox news, stakeholder Coinstar (the folks who make those ubiquitous coin-counting machines you see at grocery stores) has signed a deal to take full ownership of Redbox from McDonald's.
Coinstar plans to pay GetAMovie, the McDonald's affiliate, $10 million in cash and 1.5 million shares of common stock for its 44.4 percent stake in Redbox. Also, Coinstar said it has made a similarly structured arrangement with the remaining minority-interest holders to bring its stake — currently at 51 percent — to 100 percent.
