Amazon has stopped taking pre-orders for Warner Home Video films

In what’s become the second major dispute with a supplier in recent weeks, Amazon is now refusing to accept pre-orders for a number of Warner Home Video films including The Lego Movie, 300: Rise of an Empire, Winter’s Tale and Transcendence according to a report from The New York Times. A quick visit to Amazon and a search for any of the titles above reveals they’re only listed for purchase via digital release. Searching for a disc-based version nets you the product page but there’s no way to pre-order and no indication of when it will be available. The best option is to sign up for an alert to be notified when it becomes available. The standoff reportedly started in mid-May which led to some customers voicing their opinions on company forums. Given that films like The Lego Movie are highly anticipated, what gives?

The Everything Store is shrinking again. Amazon customers who want to order forthcoming Warner Home Video features, including “The Lego Movie,” “300: Rise of an Empire,” “Winter’s Tale” and “Transcendence,” are finding it impossible to do so. The retailer’s refusal to sell the movies is part of its effort to gain leverage in yet another major confrontation with a supplier to become public in recent weeks. In a standoff with the Hachette Book Group, Amazon is refusing to take advance orders and delaying shipments. Amazon and Hachette are wrangling over e-book terms. The retailer is in a third standoff in Germany, with the Bonnier Media Group. Disputes between retailers and vendors happen every day. What is unusual here is not Amazon’s relentless desire to gain margin from its suppliers, but the suppliers’ growing resolve to hold the line. If other suppliers adopt the same attitude, that might have significant implications for Amazon’s pell-mell growth. The confrontations indicate that Amazon’s long-stated desire to sell everything to everybody might be taking a back seat. The biggest book release in the middle of June is the new J. K. Rowling novel from Hachette; the biggest movie is “Lego.” Amazon is basically telling its customers to go elsewhere for them, which is a very un-Amazon thing to do.