Less than two years after self-help company Chicken Soup for the Soul bought Redbox, the corporation declared bankruptcy and now people are taking hundreds of movies out of the mostly abandoned DVD rental kiosks across the country. Some are even, with permission, taking the kiosks themselves.
If you’ve visited a CVS or a Walmart since 2013, you’ve likely seen a very large, very red Redbox movie rental kiosk either outside the store or inside the front area. The bright red boxes contained movies (and, for a time, video games) that people could rent, enjoy at home, and then drop off back at the kiosk. The company launched in 2002 and was very successful until streaming became bigger and bigger. Eventually Redbox found itself less relevant, and in May 2022, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (yes really) purchased Redbox and its kiosks for $375 million. Then earlier this year, Chicken Soup declared bankruptcy, leaving over 20,000 Redbox kiosks sitting around, just waiting to be raided by people.
People are plundering zombie Redbox kiosks
Over on the Redbox subreddit, which used to be dedicated to documenting movies people rented and experiences using the kiosks, people are sharing photos of all the free movies they have emptied out of local kiosks.
After the bankruptcy, some people discovered that still-plugged-in Redbox kiosks were no longer connecting to the internet properly or charging credit cards. So you can sit there and take out a few movies per “transaction” until you run out of space in your bag, the kiosk freezes up, or the store kicks you out.
“Fully functional machine inside a Walgreens. Only got 3 discs before I got yelled at and kicked out even though I tried to explain to them that Redbox doesn’t exist anymore,” posted one Reddit user who was trying to plunder a kiosk for free DVDs. That person was warned that if the machine is on store property, they can freely kick you out. Someone else suggested coming back later and hoping those employees are less invested in protecting Redbox DVDs.
One person, who removed or “saved” 99 movies from their local Redbox kiosk, had to stop twice because people showed up to return and rent some new movies. It appears not everyone knows that Redbox went bankrupt a few months ago.
Some stores have placed signs on the machine warning that Redbox no longer exists, and have unplugged the kiosks, too. The subreddit has some people asking if it’s legal to plug these machines back in. The consensus seems to be that you shouldn’t, but some did suggest plugging in the machine late at night, grabbing a bunch of DVDs, and then unplugging it before leaving.
Machines are being bought, taken, and hacked
Meanwhile, some people are apparently asking stores if they can haul away the Redbox machines, and some places are saying yes. On the subreddit and elsewhere, you can find people sharing images of Redbox kiosks inside their garages or homes. One guy bought eight of them for cheap and hauled them away to scrap. Not everyone is scrapping them, though. A Discord focused on hacking and tinkering with Redbox kiosks has popped up and is filled with over 300 people who are trying to create custom software and firmware for the large red machines.
A message in the Discord server warns people not to rip open machines or steal them from locations without permission. This is also a problem on the subreddit, too.
For the most part, though, I’ve not seen people claiming to break into machines or steal them from Walmart parking lots. Instead, it’s mostly people walking up to still-activated kiosks with a bag and loading up a dozen or so movies to take home.
On eBay, you can find large boxes of Redbox DVDs. These hauls are reportedly being sold by former employees who still have merchandise and weren’t told what to do with it. For those buying these hauls or plundering the kiosks, they are quickly discovering which movies were popular and which sat inside Redbox machines (which can hold over 600 DVDs) never to be rented by anyone.
“Anyone need a copy of Red Right Hand? I now have 46,” posted one user.