Following in Fox's footsteps, Disney has announced that it will become the second studio to release two different "classes" of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, a "premium" version, and a bare-bones rental version.

Starting in June with the movies Morning Light, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience, the studio will offer the premium version with extras and other "value-added material" while also offering the cheaper stripped-down rental versions.

The move follows that of 20th Century Fox, however with some significant differences. Disney will offer the rental versions at a lower price point, whereas Fox offers both versions at the same price. Fox also controls what rental or retail outlets can buy, however Disney gives all companies the option to buy what they please.

The rental units will not be shrink wrapped and will have no promotional inserts inside either. For example, the Jonas Brothers premium DVD, with digital copy and bonus features, has a MSRP of $39.99 USD while the single disc rental version will have the movie only, and has an MSRP of $29.99 USD.

Retailers seemed to generally respect the decision. “That is all we care about,” added one executive. “Not only do you have the difference in price, but retailers can buy either version.”

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/17863.cfm

That's interesting. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but now it doesn't sound so bad. Netflix will send the extras and the movie separately out of your queue, so if you only want the movie, you can just select it from the list instead of having to have an extra disc. Sometimes the extras are fun to watch, but sometimes, I think they put that stuff on there just to take up space. I hate that Disney will continuosly release classics on DVD so that people will buy them. It's the same movie, but every time they re-release something, it has different extras on it. Once, I actually went to Blockbuster and rented a copy of Mary Poppins just so I could see the extras. That way I didn't have to buy it. Now if the picture were restored or something like that I might consider buying a new version.

I think this is an interesting development, and really does separate the true media geeks (like myself) from the regular folks that just want to see the movie. It also avoids potential bootlegging of the 'special edition' versions of movies. I have to say, I'm kind of ok with this. It could work.

This doesn't sound like they're going to offer extras for rental. Seems like a scam paying extra for the extras.

I think that idea is stupid.