Apple and News Corp in talks to bring Fox movies to iTunes

Now all we need is a widescreen iPod

9 November 2006 11:40 GMT / By Amber Maitland

News Corp is in talks with Apple to bring films from its Fox Studios to iTunes, according to News Corp’s president and chief operating officer.

Peter Chernin revealed that the two companies were trying to come to an agreement during a conference call discussing News Corp’s first-quarter results. He didn’t say that they were close to a deal yet, but rather emphasised that a few details still needed working out.

Although shows from Fox TV are already available on iTunes, the only movie studio to reach a deal with Apple to sell movies is Disney. If the Fox Studio and iTunes agreement does pan out, it could mean that films like Star Wars, X-Men, and Ice Age will be made available.

Many film studios, include Fox, have already allowed their movies to be available through online download sites like Amazon.com’s Unbox and Guba.com. Although it’s taken a while for Apple to make movies available on iTunes, analysts still believe it could end up being the leader in movie downloads.