# Why rent movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064 "2010-03-27T23:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/41 "2010-03-30T04:46:11Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > He doesn’t think so, but I would. I guess he likes the activity and uncertainty of what he is getting. If the net shipping costs are zero to him and he doesn’t seek a profit, then…if it works for you, it works! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/42 "2010-03-30T05:24:33Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I worked in one of the very first video stores in the country. There were about a dozen films out, and about two dozen pornos. :rolleyes: That’s it. > > They were $80 or so new, so rental was a brilliant idea at the time. I remember Japanese business men would drive to our store and were very excited by the whole rental idea. 😉 I’m willing to bet that the porn movies got rented the most, by a factor of 5 or 10 times the number of non porn rentals. I used to work in a convenience store when movie rental places were just beginning to spring up. In most of them, the customer had to buy a membership (about $80, or the cost of an average movie sale) and then pay to rent each movie. We had quite a few customers who would get off work, swing by the movie rental place, and then stop in our store to pick up that night’s dinner, beer/booze, and cigarettes. The c store sold wine and hard liquor as well as beer, and had a small but pretty good deli that sold roast and barbecue chicken, ribs, pre-made and made to order sandwiches, and meat and cheeses sliced to order. Both places benefitted from having the other in the same shopping center. > [@](#): > > but even if you read a book once that potentially is a week long or more engagement. Huh? I can usually read a book in a couple of days, if it’s fiction. It only takes a couple of hours, which is about the same amount of time as a movie will take. The reason it takes a couple of days is because I usually put the book down and pick it back up a few times, as my schedule allows. The only time a fiction book takes me a week to read is if it’s living in my purse, being read while I’m in a waiting room or something. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/43 "2010-03-30T06:21:22Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I think you’re neglecting the cost of inflation over time here. Star Wars, for example was made a third of a century ago – $7 million was not a ‘cheapo’ movie at that time. If you adjusted these figures to keep a constant dollar value, the figures would be much more comparable. > [@Cisco](#): > > Interesting discussion tactic right there. Tell me I’m wrong - by a factor of 10, even - and then write 3 paragraphs supporting me. Very postmodern. I assume we’re talking today’s dollars. A Hollywood movie is in the $50M to $150M range; that’s 10 times. Some unofficial estimates of Avatar put it over $200M. Independent movies might be in the under $10M range, but only because big-name actors will work for union scale - in return for a share of profits. (See [http://www.romow.com/entertainment-blog/average-hollywood-movie-now-costs-over-106-million/](http://www.romow.com/entertainment-blog/average-hollywood-movie-now-costs-over-106-million/) ) Not post-modern, post-production. Even when unknown director George Lucas made a low-budget movie, “American Graffitti”, with a cast of relative unknowns and aspiring minor actors like like Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul LeMat, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, and Harrison Ford and a guest cameo by Wolfman Jack - the under $1M he spent was considered extremely low by Hollywood standards for 1973. Fortunately for him, it earned that back and then some. If you’ve ever walked by a movie set - you can find them on the streets of New York frequently- you will realize it is no small endeavour. There is a hell of a lot of equipment there, none of it cheap. People’s time, even at their professional rates, is probably the cheapest part. I saw a “Law and Order” taping on the Upper East Side and there had to be 3 big trucks full, 4 trailers for makeup and artists, and 2 SUV limo’s. that’s not even counting stuff to actually make the show. Not cheap. The cables running across the sidewalk to feed the lights are 2 inches thick. Similarly - someone like Celine Dion may have recorded, for example “My Heart Will Go On” (Titanic theme) in one take; worse yet, it was a demo take to show what the song was going to sound like when they would do the real recording, but it was so good they used it. But most albums take weeks or monhs of post-production to be finished. Artists have to be crazy - can you imagine listening to the same 60 minutes of music over and over for 2 or 3 months? The studio and the digital process equipment are far cheaper than years ago with analog, but still cost serious bucks. The example given in “Courtney Love Does the Math” is half a million for a major band to record an album. ( [http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html](http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html) ) Let’s say a smaller band can do it for 1/10th that - $50,000; that’s still 10 times your number. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/44 "2010-03-30T07:24:56Z")
The Blockbuster video stores here in Australia are moving into the “TV On DVD” rental niche, which is an excellent move IMHO. Something like _Deadwood_ is about $50-80 a series to buy on DVD, but realistically you’re only going to watch it once. So you can rent each series for $10 from your local Blockbuster, watch it, and return it. Everyone’s happy. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/45 "2010-03-30T07:47:59Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > …We rented not only the movies, but the VCR as well because we couldn’t afford the MANY hundreds of dollars the machine cost. I am a fan of the classic comic strip [Calvin & Hobbes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_%26_Hobbes) and it’s funny now when I read the old strips, Calvin always asks his mum if they can rent a video AND a video player tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/46 "2010-03-30T07:50:59Z")
I can’t find the relevant thread for this, but I seem to recall some discussion on these boards about various stores back in the mid-'80s trying to run a music CD rental business. I definitely remember visiting at least one of these places. It was when CDs were relatively pricey, of course, as were CD players. I believe that the recording industry itself stepped in and quashed this development by claiming that renting out CDs was illegal or unfair. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/47 "2010-03-30T09:54:16Z")
Once upon a time it was very difficult to own a copy of a movie, hence, movie theatres. It is now painfully easy to own your own movie, yet, movie theatres thrive. If movies only “took off” this year, we probably would never have movie theatres, right? Some interesting economics at play there. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/48 "2010-03-30T11:09:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Well, yeah, the time of the author is money. So is the time of the editors, copyeditors, layout editors, people doing the actual binding. Time is only money when you can do something with it that makes you money. If I were to write a book(not going to happen) instead of spending time on these forums, in front of the tv or playing WoW, how much money did it cost me? I won’t deny that getting the book ready for print isn’t free, but all you actually **need** to get it written is one person extra time on his/her hands. After all, how many books get written but are never published at all? Some people write as a hobby and some of them may even be good enough to publish if you pass it in front of a competent editor. But the amateurs and the big time authors use the same kind of equipment to write their books and any difference in the outcome depends on the skills of the writer. Yes, the professional writers can get things done faster because the know they’re going to get paid for their work, the amateurs still need a day job to pay the rent, but they can still write a good book even if it takes them a while to do it. Try making a movie on your spare time with no budget and see how far you get. Look, I not trying to say that authors don’t deserve to get paid, they certainly do, but the costs inherent to producing a book(especially with e-publishing) are much, much lower than those of producing a movie. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/49 "2010-03-30T13:13:21Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > Once upon a time it was very difficult to own a copy of a movie, hence, movie theatres. > > It is now painfully easy to own your own movie, yet, movie theatres thrive. If movies only “took off” this year, we probably would never have movie theatres, right? > > Some interesting economics at play there. Until Avatar came out, I hadn’t been in a movie theater in years. I suspect a lot of people just go to movies to be out and don’t really care that much about the movie. It is kind of hard to justify going out to movies, when one movie ticket is about the same as a month’s subscription to Netflix or 10 or 12 rentals from Redbox. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/50 "2010-03-30T13:55:47Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > But with so many other methods, legal or not, of obtaining digital media, how long will Blockbuster, etc. last? Both the Blockbuster and the Hollywood Video outlets by my house are closing (they’re even selling the store fixtures) and I passed another closed Blockbuster a few miles away yesterday. That might give you an idea. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/51 "2010-03-30T14:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=JoelUpchurch] Maybe I’m missing something. Do other Public Libraries not let you check out DVDs? In fact, with the WB delay on Netflix, I sometimes get movies at the library that aren’t available on Netflix yet. [/QUOTE] You think the delay with Netflix is bad, go check out (heh!) your local library. The library system here is in such a financial panic that they had to pick between closing half of the libraries completely or laying off a lot of staff and not making any acquisitions for the next year or more. If you want to borrow a copy of _Forrest Gump_, they’ll have it, but it will be a year or more before you’ll find a copy of _Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs_, never mind _Avatar_. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/52 "2010-03-30T16:24:24Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > You think the delay with Netflix is bad, go check out (heh!) your local library. The library system here is in such a financial panic that they had to pick between closing half of the libraries completely or laying off a lot of staff and not making any acquisitions for the next year or more. > > If you want to borrow a copy of _Forrest Gump_, they’ll have it, but it will be a year or more before you’ll find a copy of _Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs_, never mind _Avatar_. I just went to the library and picked up **Sherlock Holmes** with Robert Downey. the trick is to get there when they open at 10 on Tuesday. They had at least 10 copies. Two other new movies they had were already mailed to me by Netflix so I left them alone, but SH isn’t available from Netflix until 4/27. There have been some cutbacks. They won’t let you reserve DVDs online anymore. I can still reserve books and CDs. I just returned **The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism** by Theodore Dalrymple that I requested they order. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/53 "2010-03-31T02:02:16Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I don’t think the “library beating the Netflix to release” part is remotely true. Hate to break the news to you… [Netflix](http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/07/business/la-fi-ct-netflix7-2010jan07) and [RedBox](http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1118007266&categoryid=20) do not have DVDs available for rental until they have been on sale for 28 days. It’s a policy that has emerged since the start of the year, forced on them by the major studios. The libraries, at least those that have any funding, can buy them four weeks before Netflix or Redbox. The 28-day delay does not apply to pay-per-view. For example, the BlindSide is available in stores or on PPV now, but not in RedBox or at Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/54 "2010-03-31T02:23:13Z")
I think the 28 delay only applies to Warner Home Video for now. [http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/03/04/2010-03-04\_susan\_uman\_sues\_netflix\_for\_making\_subscibers\_wait\_28\_days\_for\_newly\_released\_dv.html](http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/03/04/2010-03-04_susan_uman_sues_netflix_for_making_subscibers_wait_28_days_for_newly_released_dv.html) ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/55 "2010-03-31T11:31:22Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I think the 28 delay only applies to Warner Home Video for now. > > [http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/03/04/2010-03-04\_susan\_uman\_sues\_netflix\_for\_making\_subscibers\_wait\_28\_days\_for\_newly\_released\_dv.html](http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/03/04/2010-03-04_susan_uman_sues_netflix_for_making_subscibers_wait_28_days_for_newly_released_dv.html) The story I linked to says that Fox and Universal are attempting to enforce the same policy. Together with Warner Bros, those three studios account for 60% of DVD releases. Sony and Lionsgate are not seeking the delay. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/56 "2010-03-31T12:52:59Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Hate to break the news to you… > [Netflix](http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/07/business/la-fi-ct-netflix7-2010jan07) and [RedBox](http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1118007266&categoryid=20) do not have DVDs available for rental until they have been on sale for 28 days. It’s a policy that has emerged since the start of the year, forced on them by the major studios. > > The libraries, **at least those that have any funding** , can buy them four weeks before Netflix or Redbox. > > The 28-day delay does not apply to pay-per-view. For example, the BlindSide is available in stores or on PPV now, but not in RedBox or at Netflix. Hmm, interesting. I think the bolded part may be what’s always colored my experiences with libraries, which I frequent often. My local library is new, has a fantastic book selection (including many new books and bestsellers), and yet their DVD collection is comprised of dated titles. Its pretty much the same in every library I’ve been in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/57 "2010-03-31T14:08:43Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > It’s a policy that has emerged since the start of the year, forced on them by the major studios. > [@anson2995](#): > > The story I linked to says that Fox and Universal are attempting to enforce the same policy. Together with Warner Bros, those three studios account for 60% of DVD releases. Sony and Lionsgate are not seeking the delay. You do understand the difference between “has emerged” and “attempting”, right? Also the difference between plural and singular, in regards to “studios”? ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/58 "2010-03-31T14:13:42Z")
My understanding is that Warner Brothers isn’t “enforcing” the delay. There was a negotiated deal where Neflix delayed the rental of WB DVDs in exchange for being able to provide more WB content via their watch instantly service. Other studios can negotiate similar deals if they think it is in their interest but that is not “enforcing”. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/59 "2010-03-31T14:32:39Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Shortly after VCRs started to penetrate American households, the video rental business took off. Why? Folks have never shown any inclination to rent other forms of media rather than buying them. There’s never been a market for renting books. Never been a model for renting LPs, cassette tapes, or CDs. There’s a small market for renting video console games, I suppose. > > So what was it that made Blockbuster, Netflix, and RedBox a channel for renting movies rather than other media? Movies have a plot, which (for me at least) seems to wear out after a while. If I’ve seen a movie already, I’ll watch it again if it happens to pop up on TV and nothing else is on, but if I’ve got the DVD/Blu-Ray in my collection, I generally won’t even take the time to put it in the player. Music albums, OTOH, don’t have a plot; I can (and do) listen to an album over and over again over the course of decades. It’s more like art than storytelling. I want those in my collection for instant access, so renting is not attractive here. Books? Weird thing for me, I guess. Reading one feels like an accomplishment, moreso than simply sitting on one’s ass to watch a movie for a couple of hours. I like having a shelf of books at home; it’s a bit like a trophy case. Also, I tend to read books rather slowly, so borrowing from a library or renting would be a PITA. Also also, reference/nonfiction books are handy to keep around for referencing. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064/60 "2010-03-31T14:59:06Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > That’s not true. Waldenbooks, the bookstore chain, began as a chain of for-profit book rental stores during the Depression. > > It had 250 stores and didn’t start to sell books until the early 1960s. Huh. I never knew that, and I worked for them for several years. I always figured the difference between buying movies and buying books is a matter of cost/time. You could buy a VHS tape (or DVD, these days) for, let’s say, 20 bucks, and it’s 2 hours. You can buy a book for 20 bucks, and if it’s a good book it will last for much more than 2 hours. A movie is a higher investment of money/hour, and therefore renting makes more sense. In a similar vein, I remember when DVD’s of TV series started becoming really popular. It seemed bizarre to me that you’d pay to watch something that was free before. The convenience factor of being able to watch repeated episodes quickly is worth it…even if it does lead to a danger of sitting on your ass an entire Saturday doing nothing but watching Buffy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-rent-movies/534064.md?page=4)