BLOCKBUSTER(R) VIDEO OPENS FOR BUSINESS IN POLAND DALLAS, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire - AsiaNet/ -- Blockbuster, a global leader inrentable home entertainment opened its doors for business today in Warsaw. The video retailer signed an agreement in April 1998 with joint-venturepartner Gemini, a Polish-based real estate and retail group, to develop asmany as 110 Blockbuster stores in the Polish Republic over the next 10 years. "We are delighted with this opportunity to develop Blockbuster in CentralEurope," said Nigel Travis, Blockbuster president of retail worldwideoperations. "We chose Poland because we are convinced there is enormouspotential for video rental in this part of the world." Blockbuster and Gemini Video plan to open as many as 10 Blockbuster stores by the end of 1999. Initial focus will be on the larger Polish cities, including Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow and Kotowice. However, the video retailer also intends to expand throughout the country. "Poland is one of Europe's fastest growing markets," said Dina Rousset,president of Gemini Holdings. "We believe that Blockbuster will be successful in Poland because a vast majority of households own VCRs and Poland enjoys a strong cinema tradition." According to Travis, "We are especially delighted to be working withGemini. Their retail and real estate knowledge complements the video-rentalexpertise that we bring to this business." In addition to carrying between 5,000 and 8,000 movies for rent,Blockbuster Poland will also carry video games and accessories, Nintendo 64and Sony Playstations for rental or purchase, compact disks, ice cream, drinks and confections. Membership will be free. Blockbuster also recently announced that it had acquired the Movielandvideo chain in western Australia. The country's current store count is 204."It is obvious we see opportunity for Blockbuster in the internationalmarketplace," said Travis. "We will have much more concentrated growth thanin the past and will be expanding more through franchising and joint venturepartnerships. Blockbuster Inc. is the nation's leading renter of videos and video gameswith approximately 6,000 Blockbuster Video stores in the United States, itsterritories and 25 other countries. The company may be accessedinternationally at www.blockbuster.com. Blockbuster Inc. is a unit of ViacomInc. (Amex: VIA), one of the world's largest entertainment and publishingcompanies and a leading force in nearly every segment of the internationalmedia marketplace. SOURCE Blockbuster CONTACT: Liz Greene of Blockbuster, 011-214-854-3190, or [email protected]/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/107225.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 107225/ Web site: http://www.blockbuster.com/