More studios have lined up behind Disney, Lionsgate, and Paramount Pictures to support the continuously growing library of downloadable content on the iTunes Store. If you go online now and check what's new, you'll find a list of movies from both MGM Studios and United Artists.

It turns out that both studios have now also signed a deal with Apple, and while United Artist only has one movie available for now ("Ronin"), MGM has quite a bulky selection:

• Mad Max
• Rocky
• Dances with Wolves
• Robocop
• The Thomas Crown Affair
• Bulletproof Monk
• Pieces of April

Isn't it strange that these movies seem to be remnants of an era long gone some 20 years now? Well, maybe this is the trend that some movie studios would take, especially since establishments like Wal-mart seem to feel threatened by the downloadable movie market. So, instead of releasing new movies that retailers sell regularly, MGM's got their list of movies that don't quite sell as hot anymore but are still deemed as classics.

For a company who is usually stringent, to the point of overbearing, when it comes to keeping up-and-coming projects under wraps until its intended announcement date, Apple's recent previews of their movie offers over at the new iTunes 7.0 has caused some suspicion among analysts. Considering Hollywood's reluctance to get on the iPod bandwagon, could this be Apple's way of letting biggie movie studios see what they could possibly be missing by not submitting to the will of the great white Apple?

As of the moment, episodes of some TV serials have already been made available for download, while Disney and some smaller Hollywood companies have already agreed to sell their movies via the internet.

For many studios such as Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros., one main issue that seems to be unsettled is the pricing of their movies, as Hollywood execs are insisting that the price of downloading a movie should cost more than buying the physical DVD. Their reason for this is that despite the absence of further production, distribution, or inventory costs, obtaining the movies has become more convenient and should therefore cost consumers more. An episode of faulty logic? Maybe.

One thing remains more certain than other details though, and that's the fact that "iPod" has become a household term, Apple has taken over the industry of downloading music and TV shows, and almost everyone you meet down the street is sporting white earbuds. How long can Hollywood resist the dark side? We'll wait and see.

Despite Apple's earlier announcement about the availability of full-length movies from the iTunes Store, it seems that many major movie studios (and not to mention some retailers) are rather wary about releasing their titles to the public in such a manner.

So far, only Disney has willingly come to an agreement with Apple execs to put up their movies for sale via iTunes. On the other hand, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros. have imposed the condition that instead of selling their movies via iTunes for $9.99 a pop, the titles would instead be rented out to users.

Despite having given in to the pressure from the Hollywood bigwigs, Apple is still hoping that by offering movies from companies such as Disney and other smaller movie companies, the major companies will finally be convinced that Apple's deal may not be so bad after all.

The online sales of film that started last March has remained minimal. Interests people show are not that favorable for companies until now. Given this, the internet's two biggest retailers are still willing to take chances. Amazon and Apple will begin the new service this week, the magazine Variety reported.

What's interesting though is that the only studio that will definitely be part of Apple's movie store at launch is Disney. This is contrary to the previous reports that Touchstone and Lions Gate are already on board. On the other hand, Amazon.com seemed to have gotten the better deal as they've reached an agreement with almost all the major studios (Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros., MGM and Lionsgate).

Also, the prices Amazon tagged with movie downloads appear to be substantially less. Apple is planning, Variety says, a tag price between $10-$15. Furthermore, those who go with Amazon will have the option to buy or just rent whereas Apple offers only sales.

The only apparent advantage Apple has is the movie downloaded from the iTunes Music Store will play on the iPods and Amazon's titles will not.

During a financial earnings conference call last August 17, Lions Gate Films' executives revealed that they have reached an agreement with Apple to launch Apple's movies online.

In addition to Lions Gate, Apple has also reportedly tied up with other major movie studios - Walt Disney, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros. for its iTunes movie rental service. Although Apple has reportedly been trying to work on their movie features, the current movie distribution model allows for movie rentals only.

No one knows yet when Apple will launch their movie rental service except for Steve Beeks, Lions Gate's president, who also would not disclose the information to the press. All we know is that Apple's movie rental service is due for launching later this year. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how things work out.