Redbox wants to give Netflix’s DVD business a second chance at life, but Netflix isn’t budging. That’s according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter (via NextTV), which says that Redbox’s parent company has already expressed interest in acquiring Netflix’s DVD business, only to get turned down by the streamer several times.
After 25 years of mailing movies straight to customers’ homes, Netflix will stop shipping discs from its DVD.com domain after September 29th. A Netflix source tells The Hollywood Reporter that it’s only winding down its DVD business, not selling it, indicating that it has no plans to let another company acquire it. But even if Netflix doesn’t plan to sell its DVD rental service to anyone, Rouhana believes that its closure could still benefit Redbox.
“This could be a great boon to us because now there are a whole bunch of people who are going to look for a new place to get their DVDs, and we’re close to 90 percent of them based on where our kiosks are located,” Rouhana tells The Hollywood Reporter. Netflix declined to comment on the situation. Redbox didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
“We believe in it, and we believe it’s going to be around for a while,” Rouhana tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Like most legacy things, it’s a lot harder to kill them than people say, I believe,” he adds.