Warner Bros., the movie studio that single-handedly killed HD DVD some time ago, will release budget-priced Blu-ray discs starting this fall. By selling certain titles to retailers for as little as $11, Warner Bros. is helping to bring down the price that you and I pay for their movies on Blu-ray.
Discounted movies could include the likes of The Shining, Enter the Dragon, and I am Legend.
This can only be seen as good news for consumers. Provided these companies can convince Joe Public that upgrading to Blu-ray is worth the initial investment, walking into a Best Buy or Wal-Mart and seeing a movie for $30 a pop no doubt deflates enthusiasm for the format, especially when the price of essentials like food and fuel continue to rise. Try justifying to your spouse that I am Legend is worth $30 (or more) when more and more of the family budget is spent to fill the gas tank.
So yeah, a long overdue move on Warner’s part. Hopefully it starts an industry-wide trend.
I was at Best Buy this weekend, and happened to check out some Blu-Ray discs. I simply won’t pay that much for a movie. Once they get down to $20, maybe…but $15 would be a lot better.
I’m pretty sure somebody decided to raise the price of regular DVDs too, because all of a sudden they’re all $20 again. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if studios or stores raised the prices to make blu-ray look a little more attractive by comparison.
I bought a PS3 to use for playing Blu-Ray disks, but so far have held off buying movies. I refuse to pay more than $20 and there has not been much choice at prices under $20 off the shelf at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Sure I could get movies cheaper if I shop around the web and do the buy-two-get-one deals, but that’s not how I buy movies. I prefer to go to Best Buy and grab a movie when I’m interested in seeing it. IOW, I’m mostly an impulse movie buyer.
The other downside for BB, CC, etc is I never go in their stores anymore, so they aren’t getting other business from me either.