Despite its precipitous fall, there are many who still have fond memories of browsing the aisles of Blockbuster on a Friday night looking for that perfect movie. A staple of 90s culture (a Blockbuster was featured prominently in the Marvel movie Captain Marvel set in the era) with over 9,000 stores globally at its height.
The blue and yellow brand was killed by a number of factors, mainly the rise of Netflix, which Blockbuster never saw coming. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was acquired by DISH Network in early 2011.
Nostalgia for the chain runs deep though. The epitome of irony is the Netflix comedy series that ran for one season about the last Blockbuster location in Grandville, Michigan. The actual last Blockbuster is in Bend, Oregon The series was canceled last December.
Photo: Blockbuster.com
Rumblings about the resurgence of Blockbuster have been floating around the internet for the last few days primarily because someone put up a page on the Blockbuster.com webpage. Right now on desktop, the page is just the familiar logo with the words “we are working on rewinding your movie” underneath. On mobile the message reads “be kind while we rewind.”
No news from the official Blockbuster Twitter account has come out either, although it’s full of funny tweets about the service.
Photo: Twitter.
Is it a new streaming service? An online only service to rent videos? New brick-and-mortar stores? So far, mums the word as Blockbuster aficionados wait and see what the company has in store.
