Lionsgate Renews Redbox Distribution Deal

6:00 AM PDT 8/14/2017

by

Etan Vlessing

The ‘John Wick’ studio reupping its supply deal signals the DVD rental market lives on in the face of competition from Netflix and other new movie streaming services.

Lionsgate renewed its deal with Redbox to sell movie titles via the rental kiosk king as the physical DVD rental market battles a fast-growing movie streaming business.

Terms of the latest multiyear agreement were not disclosed. But the Hollywood studio will continue offering Blu-ray and DVD titles at Redbox supermarket kiosks on the same day as their home entertainment release as part of the new deal.

“We are pleased to extend our relationship with them and remain committed to delivering a broad portfolio of premium content across an ever-expanding array of linear and digital platforms,” Lionsgate president of home entertainment Ron Schwartz said in a statement Monday.

The first Lionsgate-Redbox supply deal was signed in 2009 and last renewed in 2014. During that time, Netflix and the ability to digitally view movies online threatened to send Redbox and its red vending machines the way of Blockbuster on the road to oblivion.

But Galen Smith, CEO of Redbox, argued that consumers have an alternative to the movie streaming option. “Thanks to our prolific footprint and value proposition, Redbox makes new-release content more accessible to millions of consumers nationwide,” Smith said in his own statement.

By the end of 2017, Redbox will have more than 41,500 kiosks nationwide, as it adds 1,500 new kiosks this year, with more planned for 2018.

At the same time, Lionsgate is also licensing more film and TV content to streaming services worldwide as it eyes more content sales on emerging digital platforms.