Redbox to begin renting Blu-ray movies

I’ve never used a Redbox kiosk for one simple reason: they don’t have Blu-ray. But that’s all about to change. Starting with THE BOOK OF ELI, THE BOUNTY HUNTER, GREEN ZONE and BROOKLYN’S FINEST, Redbox will begin rolling out Blu-ray rentals to approximately half of its kiosks with all of them expected to participate by late fall.

While renting a DVD costs $1 (assuming you return it on time), renting a Blu-ray will set you back $1.50. Considering each kiosk only holds 630 discs, don’t expect a wide selection of Blu-ray movies at first, at least until it proves to be a profitable business. So far the initial offerings aren’t exactly thrilling but hopefully there will be a better selection as the plan continues.

Redbox had apparently been wanting to offer Blu-ray for some time but needed to settle some ongoing legal disputes with a number of the movie studios. The new Blu-ray plan will adhere to the previously settled DVD agreement wherein discs can only be offered 28 days after they were originally released.

So now with Blu-ray, will I give Redbox a shot? Probably not. I’m doing just fine with Netflix, which has a much wider selection at this point. But do you think you’ll try it out?