Lionsgate will be the first movie studio to include Facebook rentals in a home entertainment launch of a national feature film when it releases Abduction on Tuesday.

The use of Facebook to release the movie – on the same day that it will also be sold on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download – demonstrates a new confidence in the social networking group’s ability to generate unique online video rentals in the critical early weeks of a home release, and help studios gather personal information about film viewers for future marketing efforts.

“Basically, we’ll get [viewers’] emails,” said Anne Parducci, executive vice-president of marketing at Lionsgate. “We already know who our fans of the [Facebook] page are, but we don’t have a direct to consumer relationship with them.”

About 14 movie studios have experimented with offering previously released movies for rental on Facebook since Warner Brothers made The Dark Knight available last March, according to Dean Alms, vice-president of marketing at Milyoni, the California-based company that makes social entertainment software for studios.

He said today’s release of a new film marks a turning point for Facebook movie viewing.

“Movie studios are going from awareness to adoption,” Mr Alms said. “We’re seeing more and newer social applications.”

Lionsgate, for example, will offer access to an exclusive interview with Taylor Lautner, the teen star of Abduction, to fans who answer a trivia question about the film while watching it on Facebook.

Also, during key scenes, pop-up boxes will appear on the screen with a quote from the scene, or a 20-second clip of it, and give users an option to write a note and post it on Facebook. If a friend watches the movie later, she will see that comment float by in the bottom half of the screen during that same point in the film. » Read more: Lionsgate to use Facebook for film launch