Letterboxd’s foray into digital video rentals will officially launch in December, the social film platform shared in a new blog post. Plans for a “Letterbox Video Store” were first announced in March, but now Letterboxd has started filling in some details on what types of movies will be in its store and where they’ll be available to watch.
According to the company, the collection of films available through the Letterboxd Video Store will be designed around certain categories. These include films screened at film festivals that do not currently have distribution, titles that rotate through users’ watchlists, film restorations, and “limited-time previews and unreleased gems.” Letterboxd compared the process of limiting which films to try and offer like the “Employee’s Choice” shelf you might see at a local video store, only every Letterboxd user is an employee.
Movies rented through Letterboxd will be available to watch on the web, iOS, Android, Apple TV, and Android TV, and can be streamed to screens that support Chromecast and AirPlay. Letterbox hasn’t shared what its rental terms or prices will be, but note that rental availability and cost will vary depending on your location. The company has also warned that some movies will be available for a limited time only.
As an extension of its core competencies of tracking what movies you and your friends have watched and letting you review them, video rentals seem like a natural addition to Letterboxd. It’s a bit like Amazon and Goodreads. After establishing itself as a physical and digital bookseller, Amazon acquired the book review platform Goodreads in 2013. Letterboxd has defined itself as a reliable movie review platform, and now it’s branching out into selling movies too. In the same way Goodreads can drive readers back to Amazon, Letterboxd can harness movie fans to present the best movies to rent and keep them from going elsewhere to see them.