Fans think Blockbuster is planning a comeback

Online fans have speculated that Blockbuster could be making a comeback after its website appeared to become active again.

• READ MORE: Confessions of a Blockbuster employee: “It was like living in a cult”

The iconic video rental chain was a staple of the 1990s and early 2000s, though filed for bankruptcy in 2010, and by 2014 its remaining stores had closed.

It currently retains one store in Bend, Oregon, with the website itself owned by Dish Network – which owns a number of franchise agreements for the Blockbuster brand.

However, it has been pointed out online that the website has sprung back to life, with the words “please be kind while we rewind” on mobile and “we are working on rewinding your movie” on its desktop version (via ComicBook and Reddit).

Fans have taken to social media to speculate on what it could mean, suggesting it could be bringing back some nostalgia or even be entering the streaming market:

Blockbuster website back up all of a sudden
I was just talking about how I want to take that nostalgic walk through the video isles and picking out candy pic.twitter.com/ojI4HteN8Q

— BLM:NezukoUchiha (@Chanel_may03) March 20, 2023

The official Blockbuster Video website was recently updated and is active. I look forward to finding out whatever this means https://t.co/wRV7YjEO7P pic.twitter.com/5HwXRyzobY

— Jeff DePaoli (@JeffDePaoli) March 19, 2023

@blockbuster website has gone live. Did @VancityReynolds buy them? This is a story that would make so much sense and not even shock a soul pic.twitter.com/ZEzTTl9JUt

— 𝒮𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑅𝑜𝓈𝓈 (@Sher_is_Fierce) March 17, 2023

Something is going on with the @blockbuster website… Do we get a little piece of our high school lives back? Is it just a tease? What’s the plan? Does anyone know? pic.twitter.com/Y3CnO8h2sp

— Ice Bear for Prez-screaming into the void (@IceBear2024) March 19, 2023

Blockbuster has relaunched their social media channels & website
There is a lot of speculation on this, including a new blockbuster video streaming site.
What was your favorite video place in Edmonton? #yeg #yeg893fm #question pic.twitter.com/9Q5WFCeYrS

— 89.3 The Raven (@893TheRaven) March 20, 2023

Blockbuster Video's Website Is Suddenly Active Again https://t.co/zBBmBNZLQ0 via @ComicBook pic.twitter.com/BXMUrKOotP

— Matthew Coleman (@MtthwClmn) March 17, 2023

Last year Netflix released a new sitcom called Blockbuster focusing on a fictionalised version of the last operating video store of the brand, starring Randall Park and Melissa Fumero. However, it was cancelled after one season.

Critic reviews were largely negative, with Collider calling the series a “poorly conceived premise”, adding: “By the time it all winds down, Blockbuster is ultimately a series you’d likely return to the video store before you actually got around to finishing it.”

“If Blockbuster isn’t doing anything especially wrong, its shortcoming is that it’s also not doing anything impressively right,” added The Hollywood Reporter‘s Angie Han.

Meanwhile, last year Daniel Craig revealed that he used to hide his own movies in Blockbuster, telling Yahoo! Movies: “I used to have this thing, there was a couple of movies that I did back in the day when Blockbusters was still a thing, I used to go to Blockbusters and if I saw it on the shelf, I would grab it and throw it under a counter.

“I know it was not going to make a huge difference, but I thought if at least one person didn’t see the movie, it would be a good thing.”

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