Sex and the City is Alliance's first film to be offered through Apple's iTunes. (Dave Allocca/Associated Press)Apple Inc. is adding movies from Alliance Films Inc. to rent and purchase over its online iTunes store, starting with the summer hit Sex and the City.
The movie, which hit stores on DVD Tuesday, was made available for sale Wednesday for $19.99, the standard price of new releases on iTunes. Older movies are sold for $9.99.
Sex and the City, however, is not yet available for rental over iTunes. Some films are released for immediate sale and rental while others are done progressively. Rental movies cost between $3.99 and $4.99.
The two companies said additional Alliance movies will be available over iTunes. Alliance's recent theatrical releases include Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, Burn After Reading and Righteous Kill.
"The next batch is being uploaded as we speak," said Alliance spokesman Mark Slone. "It'll happen slowly over the next little while."
Slone said Alliance, the largest Canadian film distributor, will be focusing on releasing new films but will also mix in older releases as well.
Movies bought on iTunes can be played on a computer, an iPod or the Apple TV set-top box.
Apple added video to iTunes two years ago but only expanded its offerings to Canada last November with a limited selection of television episodes. The company introduced movie sales and rentals to Canada in June with a catalogue of 1,200 releases from Warner Bros., Disney and 20th Century Fox.
Legally downloadable video has been slow in coming to Canada because service providers such as Apple must negotiate separate rights deals with Canadian distributors, who argue that they hold internet rights for movies and television shows.
Apple is competing against Microsoft Corp. and Bell Canada Inc. in offering downloadable movies. Microsoft offers movies and television shows over its Xbox Live service, while Bell sells video that can be played on a TV through its own set-top box or via the Xbox 360.
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