The last movie Blockbuster will ever rent

The once-mighty chain's final customers found an apt way to say goodbye to the erstwhile video rental giant

Blockbuster

At 11 p.m. on November 9, at a now-closed Hawaiian store, the last Blockbuster movie was rented — and the customers found a thematically appropriate way to mark the occasion:

What happens now? The recently shuttered Blockbuster stores may be done renting movies, but they'll reopen on Thursday for a liquidation sale, giving patrons a chance to acquire one of their 75 scratched copies of A Good Day to Die Hard. In December, Blockbuster will end its movies-by-mail service, which was originally designed to compete with Netflix, and which allowed subscribers to return a movie received by mail to any Blockbuster store. Not as useful anymore.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

(Related: A eulogy for Blockbuster)

But the Blockbuster name won't totally fade. DISH Networks, which acquired Blockbuster in 2011, has announced that it will continue to carry Blockbuster-branded video streaming channels Blockbuster@Home and Blockbuster on Demand. DISH also plans to continue supporting Blockbuster's 50 remaining franchised locations in the United States, so you may still drive past the occasional Blockbuster retail store — but they're really independently operated stores still using the Blockbuster name, not the Blockbuster chain we've known for years and years.

But other than that, yes, this really is the end. As we all pour out a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper for the once-proud retail chain, allow Seth Rogen to play you out:

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.