Three weeks after Warner Bros. announced plans to digitally rent movies on Facebook , starting with The Dark Knight, the studio has added five more titles that will become available for rent starting Sunday night.
At 10 p.m. PT, consumers will be able to rent the first two movies of the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Christopher Nolan’s mid-bending Inception; romantic comedy Life As We Know It; and Yogi Bear, which became available on DVD, Blu-Ray and 3D Blu-Ray on March 22.
The titles will be available for rent directly through each film’s official Facebook page using Facebook Credits.
“We’re pleased to expand our test with a variety of titles that will appeal to a broad audience,” said Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “These titles have substantial followings on Facebook. The fan pages for ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Inception’ alone are two of the most popular and active communities on the site.”
Fans will have full control over the film while watching it through their Facebook account for up to 48 hours from purchase. They can choose to watch it in full screen, pause the movie and resume playing it when they log back into Facebook. Consumers will also have full Facebook functionality including the ability to post comments, interact with friends and update their status.
Warners first announced it would begin testing digital rentals on Facebook on March 7.
The Facebook model underscores just how vital digital distribution is becoming for the studios.
Digital distribution rose 19% to $2.5 billion in 2010, according to the Digital Entertainment Group.
