iTunes Movie Releases Trying to Kill the DVD

Today Apple announced a deal with Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and New Line to release movies into the iTunes store simultaneously with DVD releases. iTunes has already experimented with what is being referred to as "day and date release" titles with such films as Juno. MGM was noticeably absent, but smaller studios like Magnolia and Image Entertainment were included. This announcement follows Apple's recent announcement that it inked deals with all of the major studios to provide 30-day rental access to films for $3 - $4 each and also provide "download/purchases" for around $15.

To see why we put "download/purchase" in quotes, please read our article on DRM.

According to a report at Reuters, Bob Iger estimates the number of movies sold via iTunes to be around 4 million since it debuted with iTunes in 2006. This will be an interesting experiment for Apple as it attempts to draw the public into the world of downloadable movies with a similar fervor and emphasis it has placed on its music sales.

This news comes after a Wednesday statement by Jeffrey Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, that Warner Bros. would be experimenting with video-on-demand releases day-and-date with DVD.

Perhaps online downloads are closer than we think. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out for upcoming hardware talks occurring with both Netflix and the ailing Blockbuster.