Redbox backs out of agreement with Warner Brothers over 56-day delay

Early last month, Warner Brothers announced plans to delay the availability of its movies for rent and streaming by up to 56 days, and it looks like Redbox isn’t willing to go along with WB’s plans.

After discussions between the two in an attempt to sort everything out, Redbox announced today that its agreement with Warner Brothers has expired, meaning that you won’t have to wait an extra 56 days to rent a newly-released Warner Brothers movie from Redbox.

“Redbox will continue to provide our consumers with affordable access to new release movies from all major studios including Warner Brothers at our more than 28,000 locations nationwide,” said Gary Cohen, senior vice president of marketing and customer experience at Redbox. “We will work to provide Warner Brothers’ movies through alternative means. Redbox maintains direct working relationships with every other major studio.”

Redbox didn’t specify how, exactly, they would be able to continue to provide Warner Brothers movies at Redbox kiosks, but this would most likely mean that Redbox would have to pick up the movies straight from retail.

In response to the news, a Warner Brothers spokesperson had this to say:

“The consumer is best served by a windowing and pricing structure that ensures a healthy film business continuing to deliver quality movies. We hope to continue discussions with Redbox and reach a mutually agreed upon solution to this situation, but we fully intend to do what is best for our business, our consumers and the industry as a whole.”