14 DAY TRIAL // It was only inevitable that Facebook would start renting movies at one point, it's trying to do everything else. It's not doing it itself though, rather Warner Bros. is testing to see whether the social network could be a viable digital distribution platform. They're starting with Dark Knight and, as with any experiment, some aspects leave to be desired, but there clearly is a lot of potential.
"Starting today, millions of fans who 'Liked' Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film 'The Dark Knight' can rent the title through its official Facebook Page," Warner Bros. announced.
"Consumers simply click on the 'rent' icon to apply their Facebook Credits, and within seconds they will begin enjoying the film," it added.
Actually 'renting' the movie is simple enough. Once you've made up your mind that spending your next couple of hours watching a movie in your browser is going to be a lot of fun, you have to install the "Dark Knight" viewer app.
You have to use Facebook Credits to rent the movie on the site, it's only 30 Credits or $3 in the US. Once you've paid, you have 48 hours to watch the movie, double what other digital rental stores offer.
There is no HD version, but you can display the movie in full screen. You can pause and resume the video and, of course, you can comment on it, share it with your friends and everything else you might expect on Facebook.
As an experience, there are better options of renting video online, which come with a HD version and allow you to watch the movie on your TV and so on. But as an impulse 'rent,' there is probably no better place than Facebook.
Still, before Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and company start worrying, we'll have to see if people actually want to watch movies on Facebook. The site's size along with the amount of time people spend on it though make it a formidable foe.