How Soon Are Movies Available to Rent after Release?

[martinmartin]

Just curious how soon movies are available to rent on ATV after they are released...??

I checked Hancock and Tropic Thunder (which I think were both released very recently) and Hancock appears to be Purchase only and I don't see Tropic Thunder at all (this is on iTunes).

Thanks for the insight.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

They are available when they are released on DVD. But I'm pretty sure it depends on the movie.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I remember reading something about Warner Brothers makes their movies available to rent the same time as to buy on iTunes, which is usually the same time or shortly after making them available on DVD while other studios make Apple wait around 30 days before you can rent the movie, thus hoping and praying you will BUY the movie instead of just renting it because you're sick of waiting to see it. Well some of us want to see it in high definition so I wait regardless of my feelings on that matter. I only plan to buy movies on Blu-Ray if I feel I will watch them several times in a lifetime. Otherwise, it's a waste of money, especially given Blu-Ray's very high prices compared to DVDs whereas an HD rental on AppleTV is only $4.99 compared to $25+ to buy it on Blu-Ray. I'd have to watch that movie at least 5 times just to break even. There's probably less than 24 DVDs in my entire 300+ collection that I've watched that many times.

 

[soLoredd]

This is one of the big issues I have with renting over iTunes. I've noticed for big releases (Indiana Jones, Hulk, Iron Man) it's been about a month AFTER the DVD release that it is available for rent. You can buy them on DVD release day but the rental thing is ridiculous. Might as well go back to the brick and mortar Blockbuster days or queue them in Netflix.

Apple needs to do a lot better with the movie/AppleTV thing. New releases are so few it's crazy.

 

[martinmartin]

Yeah, I just started a 2 week trial with Netflix - mainly because I wanted to see how it worked with the new XBOX 360 update. While it works great, unfortunately the titles that are available for the Instant Queue are just about worthless. There are a few good TV series (Heroes, The Office), but that's about it (in my opinion). Either no or very few new releases.

I was hoping ATV would have a better selection of New Releases, looks like they don't.

Might stick with the Blockbuster online program...at least you can return the DVDs to the local stores and have a better shot at new releases.

Cheers.