foxlogoFox has joined in Universal’s campaign against the DVD rental kiosks by ordering wholesalers to stop supplying discs to Redbox and Blockbuster Express kiosks during the first 30 days after Fox film and television titles hit the market. The move, which News Corp. president Chase Carey hinted at Wednesday during an earnings conference call, follows the collapse of negotiations between Fox and Redbox over terms of a direct product agreement and was extended to include Blockbuster Express and Moviecube brands owned by NCR.

Universal ordered wholesalers Ingram and VPD to stop supplying its titles to Redbox within 45 days of release. Redbox sued Universal in October and Universal countersued. A decision is expected any day from a federal judge in Wilmington, Del.

Sony recently struck such a deal with Coinstar’s Redbox, becoming the first studio to agree to supply Redbox with product directly. In exchange, Sony secured a Redbox pledge to keep the studio’s used DVDs off the resale market.

A Fox insider noted that execs are braced for a lawsuit in response to the decision to withhold that studio’s titles from dollar-rental chains.

A carefully worded statement was issued late Wednesday by Fox. “We invest enormous money, creativity and effort to make entertaining, high-quality Fox movies available throughout the world,” the studio said. “In the home entertainment business, Fox offers our movies through bricks-and-mortar retail outlets and online retailers, including both national and regional chains and small mom-and-pop stores, offering consumers a wide selection of new releases and catalog for both rental and purchase. … Our desire is to maintain for Fox movies a thriving network of distribution serving all types of consumer preferences, on reasonable business terms for Fox as well as our distribution partners.”

A Fox spokesman declined to elaborate on the statement.