Movie rentals have come to Facebook. As if Mark Zuckerberg needs control of any more sectors of the Web. Still, it’s nice to see someone taking advantage of the ubiquitous social networking site.
Facebook As Video Destination
Facebook is growing as a online video destination. Mostly not due to original content, but instead thanks to people sharing videos from other parts of the Web. YouTube, for instance, has made it very easy to share videos on the social networking site, with two clicks all that is required.
Facebook is now an ever-present in the video destination charts, and with 500 million users and growing, that is unlikely to change anytime soon. But is anyone, be it website, TV network, or Hollywood studio, really taking advantage?
One has seen the light…
Facebook Movie Rentals
Streaming movies rentals have now come to Facebook, in the form of The Dark Knight from Warner Bros. By visiting the official Facebook page of the movie, users can rent the film for 48 hours, with full-screen, pausing, and social interaction features included.
The choice of The Dark Knight is a clever and calculated one. Lest we forget that the second Batman movie in the Nolan trilogy was, until Avatar came along, the biggest box office hit of all time. And it’s since sold extremely well on DVD and Blu-ray as well. So most people have already seen it and probably own a copy. This makes it a no-lose movie for Warner Bros. to experiment with.
At just $3, or 30 Facebook credits, this is a cheap option for those looking for a one-off watch of what is now considered a classic film. Warner Bros. has suggested that more titles will be available to both rent and buy through Facebook in the future.
Conclusions
At the moment this is just a test, and the way the rental is set up is not ideal. However, if this proves successful, then more films will become available, and more studios will likely jump on board.
If Facebook then spends some time and money on how it delivers these movies to its users it could truly challenge the likes of Amazon and iTunes, though not Netflix, at least initially.
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[Via The Hollywood Reporter]
