Blockbuster Kicks Off Alliance With Martial Arts Hits

The alliance between Blockbuster Inc. and The Weinstein Company got a karate kick-off last week with the video release of The Protector and Seven Swords. The two films, available now on DVD, are the first titles from The Weinstein Company available for rent exclusively from Blockbuster as a part of an alliance announced last fall. The Protector will be featured as a "guaranteed in- stock" title at all Blockbuster company-operated stores.

As it plans to do with all the Weinstein films, Blockbuster will make these titles available both online and at all its company-operated stores as well as at participating franchise stores. Subscribers to BLOCKBUSTER Total Access, the company's online service, will be able to rent the titles online or rent the movies, free of charge, by exchanging their online rentals for these titles at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores. And to make sure customers don't miss the movies, Blockbuster is prominently displaying the films in a special in-store section and on its Web site.

"As a result of this agreement with The Weinstein Company, Blockbuster is going to be able to give great visibility to quality independent films like The Protector and Seven Swords, some of which may not have had wide theatrical release or any theatrical release at all," said Matthew Smith, Blockbuster senior vice president, merchandising. "We will now be able to really market these films in-store and on-line and make them available to virtually 100 percent of the U.S. population. We are thrilled to be able to do this for our customers, and we think it's a pretty exciting opportunity for independent filmmakers as well."

For more information on this new alliance, check out the Blockbuster press release.