Tuesday at the E3 Media & Business Summit, Microsoft and Disney-ABC Domestic Television announced an agreement to bring 35 feature films from Disney's Studios to U.S. members of Xbox Live. The agreement will also allow Xbox 360 owners to rent high-definition films on demand as they become available from Disney studios including Walt Disney Pictures, Touchtone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax Films.
"This is a big endorsement for us," Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division at Microsoft, said in an interview preceding the news conference. "With this partner, we have 28 TV and movie studios on Xbox Live."
Microsoft already has signed similar deals with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate among other studios contributing high-definition titles to the fast-growing platform, which counts more than 7 million members to date and expects to reach 10 million by this time next year. In a little more than seven months since video content was launched on Xbox Live Marketplace, there have been nearly 10 million downloads of entertainment content, said Microsoft.
High-definition new-release movie rentals are 480 Microsoft Points each ($6), and standard-definition new-release movie rentals are 320 Microsoft Points each ($4). Classic feature films in high definition are 360 Microsoft Points each ($4.50), while the standard definition versions will go for 240 Microsoft Points ($3).