According to the L.A. Times, Blockbuster Video may soon be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after being almost $1 Billion dollars in debt.
After dominating the home video rental business for more than a decade and struggling to survive in recent years against upstarts Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy next month, according to people who have been briefed on the matter.
Executives from Blockbuster and its senior debt holders last week held meetings with the six major movie studios to discuss their intention to enter a “pre-planned” bankruptcy in mid-September, said several people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing talks.
Blockbuster is hoping to use its time in Chapter 11 to restructure a crippling debt load of nearly $1 billion and escape leases on 500 or more of it 3,425 stores in the U.S. Maintaining the support of Hollywood’s film studios during the process will be critical so that Blockbuster can continue to rely upon an uninterrupted supply of new DVDs.
Hello NETFLIX!
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I thought that Blockbuster was going to come out with their own version of “Redbox”, called “Bluebox”. I guess that idea fell through. They had the ’90s & the early 2000′s on lock, as far as rental sales are concerned… they should’ve managed their money a little better. They wouldn’t be having these troubles, if they had.
Lol! I’m glad I just switched to Netflix. Streaming online via the Xbox 360 was the closer for me.
Blockbuster had the chance to cop Netflix years ago before it got huge…but didn’t. What dummies.
Well… they needed to come up with a idea that would be just as good as Netflix, but they didn’t …. so #next! Not to mention, Blockbuster is expensive! SMH