Americans are done with movie disc rentals, and Redbox has been declared bankrupt. Netflix exited the disc rental market in September 2023.
Update: Readers are pointing out that there are still some viable options for disc rentals such as
dvdinbox.com.
The judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of Redbox’s corporate parent, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, has converted it from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as reported by Lowpass.
- "There is no means to continue to pay employees, pay any bills, otherwise finance this case. It is hopelessly insolvent," US bankruptcy judge Thomas Horan said at the hearing, according to Lowpass.
Redbox was acquired by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment in May 2022 for $375 million.
The last disc rental kiosk
Redbox is known for operating disc rental kiosks across the US. At its peak, it generated almost $2 billion in annual revenue from 43,700 kiosks. The number had shrunk to 28,000 by late 2023.
The red kiosks offered a rental selection of the latest and most popular DVD movies.
A Redbox rental kiosk. Photo: Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0
Netflix ended its DVD-by-mail rental service, DVD.com, in September 2023 after 25 years.
Redbox also operated a streaming service where users could stream free content with ads and buy movies. It is unclear what will happen now with the movies that users have purchased.
- Source: Lowpass
