Whether you think Apple’s Steve Jobs is a successful genius or leader of a cult (or both), you have to admit that iTunes turned the music industry on its head. And that after a long ago lawsuit over the name Apple, when Jobs promised The Beatles’ Apple Records that he’d never enter the music business. Riiiiiight. Jobs does what he likes, including back-dating stock options, and gets away with it. So it should come as no surprise that Apple plans to offer an online movie rental business similar to iTunes, regardless of what that’ll do to the video rental sub-industry.

In fact, Apple has struck up a deal with 20th Century Fox (owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.). That’s right, the company that seems to be buying up media like candy. Disney is likely to follow suit. Could other studios be far behind?

So Jobs and Apple are likely to turn the movie rental business on its head as well. From a consumer point of view, it sounds like a fantastic idea: easy access to movies for either your computer or video iPod. But since Jobs has the power to make the rules, what he does might affect the bottom line of movie houses, as well as drive video rental businesses (like Hollywood Video) into bankruptcy. Who is going to pay, say, $15-22 for a new movie DVD if they can rent a high-quality copy for a few dollars? (Wal-Mart couldn’t make a go of it, but Apple can.)

Think that’s debatable? Horror director David Cronenberg recently said in an interview that he prefers watching DVDs at home with his family rather than going to theaters. Of course, when you’re David Cronenberg, studios probably send you advanced copies. But I think that given the availability of giant TV screens of up to 100+ inches, and with wi-fi devices such as Apple iTV, something like “iVideo” might spell the beginning of the end to movie theaters. And Apple might just gain a virtual monopoly online. (Can anyone say “anti-competitive practices lawsuit in five years”?)

But if “iVideo” comes about, don’t download movies on your cell phone.