The last Blockbuster rental occurred over the weekend, days after the business had announced that it would be closing all of its remaining stores. It was a sad day for some, who still frequent the stores, but many people have already turned to other sources for their movie watching needs, such as Netflix, who has become the big giant in the business.
The final film that was rented out to a a blockbuster custom was ironically This Is The End. The movie is about the world ending, however in this case, it is very much the signal of the end of an era of movie store rentals.
This Is The End was released over the summer, and was a hit comedy featuring the likes of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and more, about an end of the world party that takes place at James Franco’s house.
The last movie ever rented from a blockbuster was this is the end. In high school I would go hang out at blockbuster every day.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) November 11, 2013
To all of our employees over the years, thank you very much for your hard work and your love of movies. #BlockbusterMemories
— Blockbuster (@blockbuster) November 10, 2013
Illegal downloading of films, and online streaming from places such as Netflix, and Redbox, which has been in grocery stores recently, has certainly killed the market for business such as Blockbuster that are still trying to rent movies to customers in a store. A drop in business, and the fact that people almost never go to Blockbuster anymore certainly made the move an inevitable one.
The final rental occurred at a store in Hawaii at 11 p.m. on Friday, and the news was announced via Twitter from two of the employees, along with the customer who was responsible for renting the last Blockbuster film.
The last BLOCKBUSTER rental 11/9 Hawaii 11PM @ThisIsTheEnd #BlockbusterMemories @Sethrogen @JamesFrancoTV @JonahHill http://t.co/RsXABlqfzL
— Blockbuster (@blockbuster) November 11, 2013
Blockbuster, after being bought out by Dish network and not being able to keep up with the digital times, made the announcement last week that they would be shutting the business’ final remaining 300 stores. All of the stores will not be effectively shut down for business until the early part of 2014, but the last Blockbuster rental has come much earlier.
Most people have probably moved on already, but if you were still planning to frequent a Blockbuster store, you have missed your chance. The last Blockbuster rental ever has happened, and it was a historic one with a fitting title.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ztSU6Gj8o
Image via Twitter