Facebook just scored a major win in the Internet’s relationship with Hollywood.
The Financial Times is reporting that Abduction, the newest film from Lionsgate, will be available day-and-date on Facebook with the DVD release today. This is the first time that a film has been on the social networking site the same day as the DVD release.
The film will be available for $3.99 for a 48-hour Facebook rental. Lionsgate will also offer an exclusive interview with the film’s star.
A cool feature that comes along with this news is the ability to write notes about the film while watching it. You can them post them on the social network for your friend’s to see while they are watching the film. Of course, this could be exploited to reveal major spoilers before they happen to ruin the film for your friends.
The film studio decided to go with Facebook because they have confidence the social networking giant can help them generate online video rentals in the crucial early weeks of a home video release. It will also help them gather personal information on film aficionados that can be used for further marketing vehicles.
Anne Parducci, Executive VP of Marketing at Lionsgate, told the Financial Times that this will give them a direct contact to their fans that their Facebook page didn’t provide.
About 14 studios have previously offered released movies for rental on Facebook since Warner Bros. offered The Dark Knight on the service, according to the Financial Times.