Warner Bros. plays tough with Blockbuster

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Warner Bros. says it has stopped supplying new releases to Blockbuster because it refuses to agree to the Hollywood studio's efforts to boost retail sales.

Warner Bros. said Netflix and Redbox have agreed to the expanded release windows, which allows movies to be sold at retail for 28 days before they are offered as a rental. The move is intended to boost the appeal of buying DVDs, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The movie studio refused to send Blockbuster copies of "Horrible Bosses" and "The Green Lantern," so Blockbuster bought the discs on the open market instead, the newspaper said.

"They felt it was important to continue to offer day and date rental so rather than work with us they went around us," Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, told the Times.