Blockbuster Is Coming Back? Check Out The Video Store’s Mysterious Clues To Its Return
Blockbuster Video's website and social media platforms are back online; does this mean that the company is making a comeback?
So long gone are the days of making an evening out of going over to Blockbuster and pouring through the hundreds of movies on display before picking out the latest release to rent on VHS and stocking up on candy for a movie night. There are teenagers in high school who have never seen a VHS tape in person and were babies when the once iconic Blockbuster video rental store went out of business. But for those who were old enough to remember that giant blue and yellow sign in every strip mall parking lot and who feel nostalgic for the days before streaming (like back when you had to order Netflix through the mail), you may be excited to know that Blockbuster might be coming back.
Although there has been no official announcement, Blockbuster’s once-deleted website and social media accounts have been turned back on. This means that something is happening, and even though we don’t know what it is, Blockbuster has left a couple of clues.
Blockbuster used to be North America’s biggest video rental company, rivaling and demolishing other beloved video rental companies like Hollywood Video and Showtime. But not much has happened with the store since it met its untimely fate in 2014. Owned by Dish Network, Blockbuster once had over 9,000 locations, but they filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and all but ceased to exist by 2014.
Still, during its 29-year run as a company (the first location opened in Dallas, Texas, in 1985), Blockbuster managed to seal its memory into our pop culture. It’s the only video rental chain to have a board game and a Netflix Original series based on it. The Netflix series is extremely ironic because Netflix and other streaming platforms are a major reason why Blockbuster had to file for bankruptcy in the first place.
Now, Blockbuster has rebooted its website, which means that after nearly a decade of being dead in the water, the now obsolete video store has something in the works. Currently, the website doesn’t have much going on other than hosting the video rental company’s classic logo and a line of text that says, “We are working on rewinding your movie,” whatever that means. Clearly, it’s a take on the company’s old logo, “Be kind, rewind,” but what kind of hint Blockbuster is trying to give its website visitors isn’t clear.
The website’s description says, “The magic of Blockbuster Movies lives on,” which is just as cryptic as the website’s main (and only) page. Blockbuster’s social media pages are not much better, with the company’s Twitter page promising updates, though rather than real updates, the company has insisted on trolling its followers with hilarious tweets instead.
One tweet says the company thought about reopening, but it seemed like a lot of work, so they quit. Another tweet, timed shortly after the SVB collapse, says the company is considering coming back as a bank that uses DVDs as currency. While these tweets are good for a laugh, they don’t divulge any real information on why Blockbuster is suddenly back online.
It’s a pretty safe guess to assume Blockbuster won’t be opening up any new video rental stores. It’s possible it will join the ranks of Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and Paramount+ as a streaming service since the company teased something along those lines over a year ago, but again, that’s just a guess.
Clearly, Blockbuster is building hype for something cool. But for now, all we can do is dig out our old Blockbuster membership cards from the backs of our wallets and wait for the company’s official announcement.
