YouTube to Do More Movie Rentals

YouTube is planning to move further into movie rentals, enlarging a small existing operation to include more major titles.

What, you didn't know YouTube does movie rentals? The Google-owned site started renting indie films in partnership with the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010. But now the push is on to make YouTube's rental service more of a mainstream operation like Netflix or iTunes.

Google is in talks with the major studios. Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Universal are already on board and the relaunch of YouTube's movie service is rumored to be imminent. While pricing is unknown, we do know that YouTube has been renting the indie titles for $2.99.

YouTube might even get into sales: "We think it will start with VOD, but broaden to include sell-through over time," one unnamed Hollywood executive said.

See The Wrap.

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