Blockbuster & The Weinstein Company Kick Off Alliance With Martial Arts Hits

Blockbuster & The Weinstein Company Kick Off Alliance With Martial Arts Hits

"The Protector" and "Seven Swords" DVDs First Exclusive Rentals Blockbuster guarantees "The Protector" to be in stock

DALLAS, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The ground-breaking alliance between Blockbuster Inc. and The Weinstein Company gets a karate kick-off today with the video release of "The Protector" and "Seven Swords." The two films, available today 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(TM), 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 at http://www.blockbuster.com/.

"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% 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."

The 2006 release, "The Protector," is presented by Quentin Tarantino and features the death-defying, slam-bang stunts of Tony Jaa. This young Thai martial arts master, known for performing jaw-dropping stunts without wires or doubles, has been compared to his own idols, including Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Known for starring in the international hit "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior," Jaa plays a young fighter who travels to a foreign land to seek vengeance against those who have stolen a pair of prized elephants meant for the king of Thailand.

"Seven Swords," an award-winning film that opened the 2005 Venice Film Festival, is the masterpiece of legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark. Based on the acclaimed epic novel "Seven Swordsmen From Mountain Tian" by Liang Sheng, this grandiose film tells the story of seven unlikely heroes and their seven ancient swords, each with unique powers, who fight back against the brutal rulers who ban martial arts while ravaging the Chinese people with violence.

"The Protector" and "Seven Swords" are part of a four-year alliance that provides Blockbuster with exclusive U.S. rental rights to The Weinstein Company's theatrical and direct-to-video movies. Other films that will be available for rent exclusively at Blockbuster include:

* "Bobby" - directed by Emilio Estevez and starring an ensemble cast
including Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood and
Lindsay Lohan
* "School for Scoundrels" - starring Billy Bob Thornton
* "Shut Up & Sing" - a documentary following the Dixie Chicks recording
their first album after making political statements prior to the Iraq
War
* "Miss Potter" - the Beatrix Potter biopic starring Renee Zellweger and
Ewan McGregor
* "Grindhouse" - the thrilling double feature from Quentin Tarantino and
Robert Rodriguez that will recall both filmmakers' favorite exploitation
films
* "The Nanny Diaries" - based on the New York Times No. 1 best-selling
book of the same name, starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and
Paul Giamatti
* "Arthur and the Invisibles" - the larger-than-life CGI animated family
adventure

The alliance between Blockbuster and The Weinstein Company is just one way Blockbuster focuses on giving customers the products and services they want. Another recent introduction was BLOCKBUSTER Total Access, a program that gives subscribers to Blockbuster's online rental service the option of returning their DVDs in the mail or exchanging them at a participating BLOCKBUSTER(R) store for free in-store movie rentals.

About Blockbuster

Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE:BBI)(NYSE:BBI.B) is a leading global provider of in- home movie and game entertainment, with more than 8,000 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company may be accessed worldwide at http://www.blockbuster.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: jsieg@blockbuster.com

Source: Blockbuster Inc.

CONTACT: Tami Cannizzaro of Blockbuster Inc., +1-214-854-3190

Web site: http://www.blockbuster.com/

-------
Profile: intent