DALLAS - Video-rental giant Blockbuster Inc. is going national with a monthly subscription plan that lets customers rent an unlimited number of movies and keep two or three at a time without running up late fees.
Blockbuster will charge $24.99 a month for customers to keep two movies out, and $29.99 to keep three titles.
The Dallas company calls the monthly subscription plan a Movie Pass and says the promotion will be available immediately in more than 5,000 stores nationwide. It tested the concept for 18 months in 1,150 stores.
Blockbuster customers, who must drive to the store to return movies and pick up new ones, have more-convenient options for movie-watching, such as pay-per-view on cable, mail-order rentals by companies such as Netflix Inc., and cheap DVDs for sale from the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Chief executive John Antioco said recently that the company hopes 10 percent of its customers sign up for the movie plan by the end of 2005.
Blockbuster is expected to add an online-reservation feature and mail-delivery to its plan later this year.
