Blockbuster website reactivates, sparking wild speculation of a comeback

Defunct video rental concatenation Blockbuster's website has mysteriously reactivated successful caller days, sparking chaotic speculation nan institution is plotting a comeback.

'We are moving connected rewinding your movie,' nan Blockbuster.com website now reads, while nan mobile type offers nan akin message: 'Be benignant while we rewind.'

Although a single, privately owned Blockbuster shop still operates successful Bend, Oregon, nan genitor institution went defunct a decade ago, aft Dish Network bought its assets successful bankruptcy and coiled down operations.

Dish still owns Blockbuster LLC and nan trademarks to nan brand, and nan Blockbuster website is registered astatine nan reside of Dish firm office in Englewood, Colorado.

In November, Dish revenge a caller trademark exertion for nan Blockbuster logo -- though it appears to beryllium successful relationship pinch nan short-lived Netflix drama series, called Blockbuster, astir a fictional past surviving store.

It's not clear whether nan Blockbuster website was revived successful immoderate benignant of trading tie-in pinch nan Netflix show - though nan show was cancelled successful December aft a azygous 10-episode season. 

The half-hour drama bid launched connected November 3 and grounded to reach Netflix’s play Top 10 during its run, according to Deadline. 

Representatives for Dish and Netflix did not instantly respond to inquiries from DailyMail.com extracurricular of regular business hours connected Thursday.

It is not nan first clip that rumors of a Blockbuster comeback person swirled astir nan iconic brand.

In January 2022, fans went chaotic aft Blockbuster revenge a trademark exertion seeking to usage nan marque for a cryptocurrency and NFT marketplace.

Crypto enthusiasts took it arsenic impervious that Blockbuster planned to rumor its ain integer rate and dive into nan NFT marketplace - but nary specified moves person materialized, and it's imaginable nan trademark was immoderate benignant of esoteric firm prank.

At its highest successful 2004, Blockbuster had 9,000 iconic yellow-and-blue themed movie rental stores worldwide. 

In 2007, erstwhile Netflix launched, Blockbuster had a gross of $5 billion, but arsenic nan Great Recession loomed and stores for illustration Target and Walmart started trading progressively inexpensive DVDs, nan business started to suffer. 

By nan opening of 2009 it was astir $780million successful debt. Rising competition from on-demand movie-streaming services for illustration Netflix and Hulu forced Blockbuster to state bankruptcy successful 2010. 

Dish acquired nan company's assets astatine auction, and attempted to motorboat a streaming Netflix competitor dubbed Blockbuster Movie Pass, which grounded to summation traction. 

The institution closed each of its corporate-owned stores successful 2014, though a fistful of franchises remained, operating by continuing to salary licensing fees to Dish.

In 2019, a privately-owned franchise successful Oregon became nan last Blockbuster shop successful nan world. It still operates today, defiant to nan forces of history.

Blockbuster's charismatic Twitter relationship went defunct successful January 2014, aft issuing a watercourse of tweets touting 'fantastic deals' and heavy discounts connected DVDs astatine store-closing sales.

The relationship returned concisely successful 2020, and again past summer, pinch tweets astir NFTs that fed speculation of immoderate benignant of crypto-focused comeback.

The relationship remains sporadically active, mostly posting jokes and memes. The astir caller tweet, from March 15, joked astir a imaginable relaunch for nan brand.

'New business idea: We're going to travel backmost arsenic a slope and usage VHS and DVDs arsenic currency,' it said. 'Time to spell sojourn your mom.'