Two copies of the same film in iTunes store

[steve62388]

Why would the iTunes Store have two copies of the same film?

Specifically The Incredible Hulk in the U.K. store. The running time is almost identical (1 second out). The only difference I can see in the description is one seems to have lots of languages in the subtitles and the other has closed captions. They are the same price.

 

[Julien]

Possibly has to do with overseas rights. Likely 2 companies have acquired the rights to sell in the UK store.

 

[steve62388]

It’s a film from Universal. Reading some reviews of Universal movies it seems they have some sort of scam going where they keep relisting films. That means you lose any Extras and the old version doesn’t show up on a search.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

Yeah this seems to be a new thing with Apple. Before if you purchased a movie. And they added extra features. It would just be added to the copy you purchased. Now they seem to roll out a release. And at some point add some deleted scenes, or iTunes exclusive content. And say if you want that version. You must buy it again. Just a way for them to make money.

 

[Julien]

Yeah this seems to be a new thing with Apple. Before if you purchased a movie. And they added extra features. It would just be added to the copy you purchased. Now they seem to roll out a release. And at some point add some deleted scenes, or iTunes exclusive content. And say if you want that version. You must buy it again. Just a way for them to make money.

NOT Apple but the studio or rights holder that is doing this. Apple doesn't/can't control the content.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

It’s a film from Universal. Reading some reviews of Universal movies it seems they have some sort of scam going where they keep relisting films. That means you lose any Extras and the old version doesn’t show up on a search.

I doubt it’s the “studio” when Apple is literally advertising it as “ITunes” exclusive content. You could probably argue both are in cahoots together I guess.

 

[steve62388]

So I guess my question becomes how can I tell which version is the most recently released onto the iTunes Store?

I can make an educated guess (for example by which has the most reviews) but how can I be sure?

This is going to cause havoc if and when they upgrade movies like these to 4K if some people get the upgrade and others don’t.