I don't even bother going to Blockbuster anymore.

It's like, you go in there, and the new releases are nothing but shit like "Deuce Bigelow, European Gigolo." A whole wall full of "Deuce," like 200 copies. And maybe three of them are out.

Quite a shocker that they're going under, eh?

You're shocked by this? You know they base the number of copies they get on how well the movie does at the theater. If mindless minions pay to see it at the theater, even if it's crap, they are going to have a lot of copies, regardless of the quality of the movie.

And how does that that reflect bad on Blockbuster? Did they make Duece Bigelow the hit it was? You ought to be blaming Hollywood and your fellow Americans for supporting such garbage in the first place, or Blockbuster would not have to get it in.

Hmm... I didn't know they base it on how the movie did in theaters. I guess I see the reasoning, but I don't think I've ever rented a new movie that I've already seen in theaters... if I like it enough to rewatch, I'll buy it.

One, that's a bad business model because theater performance and video performance aren't necessarily related. It isn't unusual for some sleeper hits to perform well on video even though they struggled theatrically.

"Deuce Bigelow European Gigolo" wasn't a hit. I believe it flopped at the box office.

BBV only seems to stock shitty movies in any kind of depth.

It's like they have David Manning working as a buyer.

I would agree there. They have a business modle stuck in the 80s in that regard. Today's audiences are much more willing to try out a movie for four bucks for the entire family instead of eight bucks per person at the theater, a point that BBV never seems to understand.

I seriously have no idea, so I am going to take your word for it (and hope it's true, as it will reaffirm some faith in the movie going public). So maybe that studio gave BBV a deal on that title? Not all studios give them the same deals. Universal, for example, won't give them any leeway.

Where I live now, there's a Blockbuster and a Hollywood Video. The Blockbuster has a shitty old-release DVD selection, but it's also rent one, get one free (which means 2 for $1.50). Not a bad price, and gives me a chance to catch up on some movies I missed out on (assuming the one copy they have is even in stock, which usually it isn't).

Meanwhile, Hollywood Video has a fairly decent back-catalogue, but they're all $3.99. That's too high for old movies, so I never go there. Also, I used to work at one in Austin TX, and it just brings back bad memories. *shudder*

Duece Bigalo: European Gigolo cost $22 million to produce, grossed $22.4 million in the USA, and another $22.4 million in other countries for a total worldwide box office of $44.8 million according to Box Office Mojo.

I don't know anyone who has seen it.

My county outlawed porn sold in this day and age (as well as any strip bars,etc). Ridiculous considered the county is one of the highest STD rates in the freakin country. I miss those old video stores; there was one I would walk up to when I was a kid and do their rent 10 for 10 dollars for 10 day special. I rented everything in the store. The guy knew me well so if I didnt have late fee money, he'd still let me rent in the promise I'd pay him the next time, which I always did.

Those stores, sadly have left the area. Blockbuster has monopolized majorly here. I rented from them awhile back and to rent 3 dvds it was almost 20 dollars. Ridiculous. We don't have Hollywood video but we do have Movie Gallery, which I was screwed over with and would not/could not return to as they claimed I didnt return 2 videos game and tried to charge me hundreds for them.

For me, Blockbuster failing is good news. Isn't this the commpany that also refuses health insurance to employees? They've taken advantage every way they can, practiced shoddy business practices, and also IMO have not supported the film indusry in any way by carrying such a limited selection of unrated flicks, being in partnership with the MPAA (ridiculous concept there as well), under the guise of being a 'family store'

Good riddance.

They sure were pushing hard with Super Bowl commercials, though. At 2.4 Million for 30 seconds, I am glad they have their priorities straight...

As far as I can tell, all franchise stores around me have closed within the last week without warning. Even people that had rented a movie a couple of days before had no idea and only a sign saying closed, please leave movies in drop box served as a notice.

The franchise stores were the only reasons I visited Blockbuster for used movies. The corporate stores have terrible deals with modified cases, no inserts, poor condition.

My psychic powers are failing me .... any clues as to where "around me" might be?

all I can say is good riddance. I hate this store, even though I do shop there often due to some loopholes and things their new gamerush store has created making some decent video game deals occasionally. But Any time I have ever preordered a game there it doesn't come in on release day, usually like a week later and sometimes the game just never comes in. To have games for preorders in your system with no intention of ever ordering them is just rediculous.

I also miss the days of mom and pop stores. Blockbusters rental prices are just way too high, you may as well buy the movie with how much they want you to pay for a rental.

Having been in some remaining Mom-and-Pop stores around me (suburban Dallas), the only difference between them and Blockbuster seems to be that the independent stores are considerably dirtier, more run-down and has a worse selection and fewer copies of what they do have than the local Blockbuster.

Considering Blockbuster has only been in my particular town specifically for a year-and-a-half or so, I don't imagine the Mom-and-Pop stores went downhill that fast. There's at least five years of grime all over the places.

But the proper Mom-N-Pop stores have PORN, which no Blockbastard stores have ever had!

Well, it depends. When I was in college [in Athens, GA] there were probably 5 truly independent video stores within 15 miles, and a couple more local chains. The indy ones had 'adult' stuff and a lot of those wacky 70's drug/trippy things, the local chain had a bit more variety than BB/HV, including a decent foreign section and a decent anime section, and video games for the Sega 32x and Sega CD. But where I am now, even before the local chains shut down, they were pretty much like a BBV....actually, one of them did have about 80 adult titles in a curtained off section in the back of the store, but the others were about the same as BBV, both in selection and pricing.
I think it depends on the area.
Of course, with BBO/Netflix, unless you're looking for 'adult', 'selection' isn't that much of an issue anymore.

The one thing Blockbuster has over the indie stores now is the no late fees thing. I get charged up the ass when I rent from my local indie video store because all movies are due the day after tomorrow and late fees are 3-4 dollars per movie per day. As my schedule makes it hard to pin down when I can watch, Blockbuster makes more sense for me. Even better is Netflix.

All that said, that Blockbuster won't carry NC-17 or unrated versions of movies where both an unrated and R are available (like Team America) is really fucking annoying.

I've never cared much for mom and pop stores either. I have fairly mainstream tastes, and was never much into porn, so I never had any problem with the chain stores aside from not carrying unrated movies.

The mom and pop stores were usually dirty, and had fewer copies of new releases to the point that it was near impossible to get any hit movie the first couple of weeks of release.

Of course since netflix came around it's all moot anyway.

My blockbuster has dozens and dozens of "previously viewed" unrated Havocs... was there just one version made or something?

The blockbuster near where I work just closed last week. There is a sign up on the door that says it is closed for inventory, but according to the paper, 9 blockbusters in the Pittsburgh area closed because of bankruptcy. Article:
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06196/706023-28.stm

None of them were corporate owned stores, but can they be far behind?

All I know is that blockbuster does NOT honor their sales as listed on their website.

I.E.: The 3 for $20 deal. I wrote corporate but that was like pissing into the wind. Whatever, I have other resources for used DVDS. I just thought I'd pass that on to the wise.

Is youre store a Corporate or Franchise store? My guess would be franchise, and if so, they don't have to honor anything.

All of the stores in Middle Tennessee (and perhaps the entire state?) are franchises run by "Southern Stores", and don't have to honor many of the offers that the corperate stores have, i.e. nno late fees, PV sales, ect.

Although I have tried all the video-rental chains and many independent ones, Blockbuster was the only place which, every single time, charged me late fees even though I made a point to return it a day before it was due. I hate them...but I did love them when they gave $8 a trade!!

$8 trade was nice. I'm tempted to print out their sale info of their website and go in but I don't think it's worth the hassle.

Blockbuster turned a PROFIT actually. I still get FREE rentals for games through Blockbuster.com. I'm just waiting for those to disappear though....we'll see.


Blockbuster posted a profit, I guess they will stick around....

DALLAS, July 27, 2006 — Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI, BBI.B) today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2006. Net income for the second quarter of 2006 totaled $68.4 million, or $0.31 per diluted common share, compared with a net loss of $57.2 million, or $0.31 per common share, for the second quarter of 2005.

Net income for the period was affected by the impact of favorable tax audit settlements, costs incurred for store closures and discontinued operations in Spain. Excluding these items, adjusted net loss totaled $21.4 million, or $0.13 per common share, an improvement of $23.2 million as compared with adjusted net loss of $44.6 million, or $0.24 per common share, for the second quarter of 2005. The calculations of adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per common share are shown on page 5 of the tables accompanying this release.

"Our second quarter 2006 results mark our third consecutive quarter of solid performance and demonstrate the continued successful execution of our business plan," said Blockbuster Chairman and CEO John Antioco. "Domestic same-store movie rental revenues increased 3.8%. Our profitability and cash flow have improved significantly year-over-year, and as a result, our balance sheet is much healthier. We have also gained momentum in our online business. In short, we achieved our objectives for the quarter and will continue to work toward driving improved results while focusing on our combined in-store and online offering."

Second Quarter 2006 Financial Results

Revenues for the second quarter of 2006 declined 5.0% to $1.32 billion compared with $1.39 billion for the second quarter of last year, primarily due to a reduction in revenues from the closure of stores and lower margin retail sales. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in revenues from BLOCKBUSTER Online® resulting from growth in the subscriber base, which totaled approximately 1.4 million subscribers on June 30, 2006, including approximately 100,000 trial subscribers at quarter-end who subsequently converted to paying members. Worldwide same-store rental revenues for the second quarter were flat as compared with the same period last year, reflecting an increase in domestic same-store rental revenues and a decline in international same-store rental revenues. Worldwide same-store retail revenues for the second quarter of 2006 declined 9.2% from the same period last year.

Operating loss for the second quarter of 2006 was $6.4 million, an improvement of $49.6 million from an operating loss of $56.0 million for the second quarter of 2005. The significant improvement was driven by the Company's cost containment actions, including reduced corporate overhead and store expenses and lower advertising costs. The reduction in SG&A expenses was partially offset by a $28.2 million decrease in gross profit mostly due to the decline in total revenues. Gross margin for the second quarter increased to 55.9% from 55.2% for the same period last year largely due to a change in the revenue mix between rental and retail revenues. Rental revenues represented 75.1% of total revenues for the second quarter of 2006 as compared to 73.1% for the same period last year.

Income from continuing operations, which excludes a gain of $7.7 million on discontinued operations in Spain, totaled $60.7 million, or $0.28 per diluted common share, for the second quarter of 2006 as compared with a loss from continuing operations of $55.4 million, or $0.30 per common share, for the second quarter of 2005. This change reflects the favorable resolution of multi-year income tax audits in the amount of $91.2 million and $9.1 million of costs incurred for store closures.

Operating income increased $147.9 million to $20.7 million for the first six months of 2006 from a loss of $127.2 million for the first six months of 2005. Cash flow provided by operating activities for the first six months of 2006 increased by $205.0 million to $17.7 million from a $187.3 million deficit for the first six months of 2005. Free cash flow (net cash flow provided by operating activities less capital expenditures) improved by $260.7 million to a negative $6.1 million for the first six months of 2006 from a negative $266.8 million for the same period last year. In addition to the improvement in profitability, cash flow was also impacted by the settlement of income tax audits discussed above, which resulted in a cash receipt of approximately $21 million and a reduction of accrued liabilities. The Company paid down approximately $150 million in debt including the entire $135 million balance outstanding under its revolving credit facility at December 31, 2005, which increased its borrowing capacity to approximately $293 million at June 30, 2006.

Additional financial and operational information for the second quarter and year-to-date 2006 can be found in the tables accompanying this release.

Earnings call