Critical End!

Under the new plan, Netflix will only get the movie after at least one lead actor has died.

So, Warner Bros. (and other studios) have been experimenting with a month-long wait before new DVD releases hit Netflix. Apparently, that’s been a success because Gizmodo says that the company is thinking of making the wait even longer.

Obviously, the idea is that if you have to wait for a movie to show up on Netflix, you may break down and just go buy it.  Which, in my mind, makes absolutely no sense.  Maybe I don’t consume movies in the same way others do, but if you were really chomping at the bit to see a movie, so much so that you can’t wait four weeks to get it for (essentially) free from Netflix, then why did you wait four months for the DVD instead of just going to the theater?

The wait period may be convincing some folks who were on the fence to just bite the bullet and buy.  I admit I’ve done it when I wanted to see a movie at a very specific time (like for a Halloween party.)  But I can’t imagine that’s a huge number of people.  In fact, I’m more inclined to believe that the planned increase is an attempt to save a bad idea, rather than make a good one more profitable.  Am I wrong?  Anyone out there ever bought a DVD because they couldn’t rent it yet?