It’s a well-known fact that OTT giant Amazon Prime Video has several Indian and foreign films which can be seen on a rental or pay-per-view basis through its store’s rent menu. Usually, some titles are made available on Amazon Prime Video’s rent menu before it starts streaming on the OTT platform for free for all its subscribers.
However, Amazon Prime Video’s rental store has often ended up being on the receiving end of angry criticism from its own subscribers. Because Prime Video members feel that when they are already paying a significant subscriber fee, why should they pay rent to watch a film a few days earlier.
Another thing that has caught the attention of some OTT viewers is the high pricing of some of these rental / pay-per-view movie titles. For instance, recently, the popular DC superhero movie ‘Black Adam’ starring Dwayne Johnson, started streaming on Amazon Prime Video on rent. But the cost of streaming the movie on rent on Prime Video is a whopping Rs.499/-.
Another recent example is that of the Indian action-adventure movie ‘Ram Setu’ starring Akshay Kumar. The film is currently available on Prime Video at a rental value of Rs.199/-.
Even the George Clooney and Julia Roberts starrer comedy film ‘Ticket to Paradise’ is available on rent at the cost of Rs.299/- on Prime Video. Likewise, the slasher flick ‘Halloween Ends’ and the horror film ‘The Invitation’ are currently priced at Rs.299/- and Rs.269/- rental values, respectively.
Coming back to the films ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Ram Setu’, they have received mixed to negative reviews from critics. So, why the rental cost for these movies on Prime Video has been kept unreasonably high, is a matter to ponder upon.
@PrimeVideoIN Rs 499 is something vryy huge 😡😡 Prime Videos crossing their limits 😣😣Gaining moree negative reports sply coz of this store option, totally unfair wht they r doingg..😡😡😡
— Jagan Raj (@JaganRaj6) December 5, 2022
And interestingly, despite their higher rental costs and strictly average reviews, both ‘Ram Setu’ and ‘Black Adam’ have been listed as the top two purchases in India on the Amazon Prime Video OTT app.
Having said that, some other titles such as Idris Elba’s ‘Beast’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’, ‘Joyride’, and ‘777 Charlie’, etc. have been priced at comparatively reasonable rental values on Prime Video.
If Amazon Prime Video intends to continue providing some of the movie titles on rent, the streaming service should seriously brainstorm about the pricing strategy for some of their Indian and foreign titles on the rental store. Even if they are recently released premium films featuring big stars. Because Prime Video’s subscribers should not feel that they are not being treated fairly or being manipulated in spite of paying the annual fees.
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