Redbox is on the brink of going out of business. Recent developments:

• They have cash flow issues, and so have only been able to add 1 new major title since Q2 2023: Barbie.
• Universal has sued Redbox for $17 million in owed licensing fees, claiming that Redbox has not paid them since summer 2022
• Redbox is being sued by content creators who were not paid after the acquisition of distributor 1091 Pictures. They're also being sued by the investment bank that helped advise Redbox's acquisition in 2022 for unpaid fees.
• Redbox removed their loyalty points system a couple months ago
• Redbox has discontinued telephone and live chat support
• Redbox has removed many box locations in lower performing areas or locations that presumably are more expensive to rent (Walmart?)
• Redbox employees have not added movies or serviced any machines for the past 7 weeks.

Redbox's parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (yes, the inspirational book series), painted a dire picture in their most recent SEC filling. Basically, they bought Redbox in summer 2022, saddled with $360 million in debt, based on the bet that rental levels would return to pre-pandemic levels as theatrical releases returned to normal. However, it was unable to obtain a secured working capital loan of $40 million when its primary lender denied approval. Without the working capital, it was unable to obtain new content, which caused a cash crunch (impaired rental revenue), causing it to default on loans and contracts. "Due to the on-going impact of the above factors on our current and future results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, there is substantial doubt as to the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern."

CSSE also owns Crackle, having acquired it from Sony Pictures.

That explains why my local kiosks didn't have any new releases. Some didn't even have Barbie.

It was only a matter of time until streaming killed them. Not enough business left from the dwindling customer base that don't stream.

I think they actually could have gone for a while longer, especially with Netflix DVD shutting down and theatrical releases getting stronger last year, if only they hadn't been saddled with servicing so much debt, and not being able to obtain working capital. That sunk them at just the wrong moment when they should have been capitalizing on Netflix's shutdown and the summer blockbusters.

I'm surprised they are even still around at this point, they disappeared in Canada nearly 10 years ago.

Sad to see it going. I only used it every other month or so but liked having the option.

That’ll basically mean the end of rentals then. With purchase prices being so low I rarely found rentals worth the trouble of picking up then having to return them. For stuff I just wanted to see once it’s been more convenient to do that via digital also, even if it does cost more.

Over half the reason why Hollywood moved to all-digital platforms was this result. They wanted to kill the physical rental market which they loathed beyond all reason. I am surprised a company decided to buy into this business when the entire market was being forced into certain outcomes.

I doubt anyone here has ever bought a digital movie from Redbox, but if they aren’t paying their license fees, you can probably expect to lose them if they go under. The VOD service is probably in bad shape too. I looked at their “new” movies and all it carries is TV movies, some older movies, and Indie DTV titles.

I tried their online service once when I had a coupon, didn’t see any advantage to using it over Vudu or Apple (prices weren’t even better, and it started when their disc rentals were still about $1) and if you buy movies there they don’t go to Movies Anywhere. If they aren’t getting new titles there then you can kiss that goodbye also. I saw they have a couple free-with-ads channels on Xumo.

Looked at their Facebook page and lots of comments about their not having gotten any new movies in a while. Back when they had free rentals every week I’d rent about 3 or 4 at a time with different credit cards and had almost seen everything they had for a while.

They still wanted to buy Netflix’s disc rental setup when they announced that would be shut down.

That's unfortunate. Then again, it seems that they've been stagnant ever since CSSE acquired them. Once I saw that GameFly lets you rent/buy BD & 4K discs I stopped using Redbox altogether. GameFly should make an offer to acquire remaining inventory from Redbox once they shutdown. I know GameFly wanted Netflix's media inventory when they discontinued the disc plans and Netflix said no.

I figured that something was up once they stopped getting new movies for months last year. T-Mobile gave out a few free rental codes that I didn't use because every time I checked online to see what they had at the box, there was nothing new that was worthwhile.

It's officially the end of an era for renting physical discs. I guess people seem to not mind paying $20-25 for PVOD rentals (well probably not DVD Talk ) Or $6 digital rentals to get their new movies.

Yeah I know that the majority in this forum don't think digital rentals are worth it.

Plus they bought Crackle from Sony, another great acquisition. Do they even know what the fuck they are doing?

Checked out their digital rental thing a few days ago, so pathetic I may need to make a YouTube video about it if nobody else has already. Nothing at all from the past few weeks, and the noteworthy titles that are present give you a “This title is currently unavailable” message when you click on them. Hope nobody “bought” any movies through them.

CSSE also owns Screen Media, which produced Willy's Wonderland.


EDIT - They're actually a distribution company.

GameFly is the way.

Didn’t know that, been meaning to watch that but probably not buy it- just about all titles I do have from that company were bought at dollar stores though. I thought “Chicken Soup for the Soul” only did “uplifting” stuff like Hallmark movies?

The Redbox VOD app also has ad supported movies and "live" TV channels. I wonder if Redbox goes under if the entire app shuts down. But, it's not like they have unique content. There are a dozen more ad supported and live TV apps out there.

The weird thing about the Redbox free channels and several other ones is during a commercial break they will sometimes just show a screen with a countdown for a few minutes saying “We’ll be right back” rather than showing any commercials. When they started those channel I thought that meant they were doing well but apparently not. I want a Redbox machine if they get trashed.

They are but wanted to diversify their portfolio.

I hadn't even thought of that. Could it be a 630-disc distribution machine with a customizable digital interface that I could tie to an online library, as well? I'll take that over a bookshelf. Sign me up!

Serious question: if you were able to get one, what would you do with it? Where would it go?

Those things take up a massive amount of space, bigger than most refrigerators.

Alan:

He doesn't need his refrigerator that bad, it's probably mostly full of media anyway. He can just swap it out for a Redbox.