A massive sale on The Criterion Collection has kicked off at Barnes & Noble. Yes, the 50% off sale. If you’re a certified collector, you probably saw it coming. If you’re a fan of Closet Picks interviews, now’s your chance to feel like you’re in one. Honestly, if you just plain like movies, these deals are worth checking out.
The 50% discount applies to more than 1,700 DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K UHD editions (plenty of which have been price-matched on Amazon). From what I can tell, that's a huge chunk of the collection with a release date before July 27, 2025, which happens to be the final day of the sale. The only limit between now and then is what stays in stock, so good luck.
50% Off The Criterion Collection at Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble typically runs these 50% off sales two times a year: once in the summer (that’s this one) and once more over the winter holidays. Otherwise, the only real big discounts on The Criterion Collection are flash sales, and there’s only been one of those so far in 2025.
That makes these Barnes & Noble sales something pretty much any physical media collector looks forward to each year. One Redditor stocked up on gift card deals in preparation for the event.
It's that time, friends: Barnes & Noble Criterion Collection 50%-off sale time! Barry Lyndon in 4K?? Let's gooooo https://t.co/z2OOFzxums pic.twitter.com/eHfwszPbqQ
— IGN Deals (@IGNDeals) June 27, 2025
To help you parse through the hundreds of movies available, Barnes & Noble has kindly organized the sale into various categories. Some of these categories are by product type, like Box Sets, while others highlight certain eras in filmmaking history and even specific themes.
Good news for anyone as indecisive as I am: You don’t have to make your decision in a day. The sale is running for a full month, until July 27. The discounts apply online and in stores, so if something goes out of stock or you’d rather avoid shipping costs, definitely check out your local Barnes & Noble. We've also seen good ol' Amazon price-match most if not all of these deals.
What About Preorders?
Barnes & Noble notes that the sale excludes “titles released after 7/27/25,” which, for what it’s worth, means the discount applies to preorders releasing in July. That doesn't mean everything else is full price; most preorders releasing after that are still 30% off.
What Is The Criterion Collection?
Founded in 1984, The Criterion Collection is a distribution company that publishes "important" films in DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD formats with a range of a special features. According to the company’s website, “Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen.” The company has restored films dating back to 1921 and continues to give the "Criterion treatment" to new releases like Flow and Anora.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
