Redbox has announced more than half of its daily movie rental kiosks will begin offering Blu-ray movies for just $1.50 per night starting immediately.
"The Bounty Hunter", "Green Zone" and "The Book of Eli" are a few of the select movies expected in Blu-ray.
The company announced 13,300 kiosks across the U.S. will offer Blu-ray movies, and a full roll out for all 23,000 kiosks should begin sometime in the fall. Just two months ago, the company celebrated the creation of 25,000 Redbox kiosks with Flextronics, its manufacturing partner.
Similar to its DVD distribution agreements, Blu-ray new releases will have to wait for 28 days before being made available on Redbox rental from most movie studios.
Blu-ray has been expected for Redbox rental kiosks for some time now, with Redbox president Mitch Lowe announcing Blu-ray rentals last month. Redbox claims around 16.9 percent of its customers currently own Blu-ray players, and believe offering Blu-ray rentals can accelerate adoption.
Coinstar, Redbox’s parent company, has expressed interest for some time now in expanding from just a daily DVD rental service. Redbox is quietly testing video game rentals in select markets, and the company also said it plans to compete with Netflix using an online service.
Expanding into new markets is vital for Redbox to try to use new services to create additional revenue streams.
Coinstar said it has until 2013 to 2014 before rental kiosks hit a saturation wall in grocery stores, malls, and other shops where kiosks are located. The company even is considering a line of beauty kiosks that sell cosmetics from different companies.
