European Xbox 360 consoles owners will be able to download to rent their favorite films and watch them on their game machine beginning 11 December, Microsoft announced.

Although the service has been available for more than a year in the U.S., this will be the first multi-territory hardware-based online movie delivery service in Europe, debuting in the UK, France and Germany.

The Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store will provide both standard movies and high-definition versions for rent at the estimated retail price of €3 and €4.50, respectively.

Although, initially, all movie content will be from Warner Bros. – with whom Microsoft has an exclusive deal for content – there will be 40 more movies available before the end of December. Among the full-length movies that Xbox 360 owners will be able to rent are: 300, the Harry Potter series, The Matrix, TMNT and Ocean's Eleven.

About 60% of Xbox users already go online through Xbox Live to download games and music videos and play Web-based games with other players. But the European rollout of the Xbox Live Marketplace service has been staggered because of the complex licensing issues for video content in different regions and to allow time to make deals with local content providers.

Story filed 10.12.07