The red envelope is officially a collector’s item.
“In 1998, we delivered our first DVD. This morning, we shipped our last,” Netflix wrote in a post on its website. “For 25 years, we redefined how people watched films and series at home, and shared the excitement as they opened their mailboxes to our iconic red envelopes.”
Over five billion DVDs were shipped during that time, beginning with Beetlejuice and ending on the Coen Brothers’ 2010 remake of True Grit.
“It’s sad when you get to the end, because it’s been a big part of all of our lives for so long,” Hank Breeggemann, the general manager of Netflix’s DVD division, told the New York Times. “But everything runs its cycle. We had a great 25-year run and changed the entertainment industry, the way people viewed movies at home.”
The most-rented DVD during the red envelope era? The Blind Side (maybe not the best choice), followed by Crash, The Hurt Locker, The Departed, and The Bucket List. All five of those movies came out between 2005 and 2009, when Netflix was at its physical media peak. The streamer also shared that “over the last 25 years of red envelopes, Morgan Freeman and Cate Blanchett were the most rented actor and actress.” Their most popular DVDs were The Bucket List and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, respectively.
Lydia Tár ain’t streaming anything on Netflix. She’s ride or die for Criterion.
Over the last 25 years of red envelopes, Morgan Freeman and Cate Blanchett were the most rented actor and actress — and this was their most popular DVD. pic.twitter.com/QN6roFHXJw
— Netflix (@netflix) September 29, 2023
(Via Netflix and the New York Times)
