It was announced Tuesday that Facebook will soon begin offering online movie rentals.
Warner Bros. will be among Facebook’s first partners in the venture, making The Dark Knight available through the movie’s official Facebook page.
As it stands, the cost of a Facebook movie rental is 30 Facebook credits, which amounts to $3. Once a film is rented digitally, users have 48 hours from the time of purchase to watch the movie.
Facebook still functions normally during the rental period.
“Facebook has become a daily destination for hundreds of millions of people,” said Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “Making our films available through Facebook is a natural extension of our digital distribution efforts. It gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy our films through the world’s largest social network.”
Although only one film will be made available in this initial test run, Wall Street reacted to the news Tuesday as traders began selling shares of Netflix in anticipation of Facebook’s growth in the realm of digital video rentals.
“Every digital heavyweight is making a play for your living room. Apple, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, everyone,” Peter Kafka of All Things Digital says.