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Studios Push for $50 Early Home Movie Rentals (variety.com)
As many as five major Hollywood studios have been working with cinema owners to shrink the traditional release window and allow consumers to rent movies on-demand in as little as 17 days after they hit theaters, reports Variety. From the article: Warner Bros. and Universal have been the most aggressive in pursuing an arrangement that would see certain movies receive a premium video-on-demand release within weeks of their theatrical premieres, but now other studios are joining the discussions. Twentieth Century Fox has also begun to talk early releases with theater owners, while Sony is having its own separate talks with exhibitors and is trying to devise its own plan. Paramount, which previously did a pilot program with AMC and a few other exhibitors to release "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" and "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" on digital platforms early, has continued to seek a similar strategy. Though different studios are exploring different scenarios, the plan that has gathered the most steam would involve offering up movies for $50 a rental some 17 days after their theatrical opening. Those rentals would be available for 48 hours. The latest round of discussions began roughly 18 months ago.
and watch a pirated cam version.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Yeah but it would be way cheeper to pirate a copy uploaded by someone who rented it and cracked the DRM.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
Everybody has some sort of stupid, costly activity that they nonetheless enjoy; I'm not an exception to that, and neither are you. Clearly, this guy doesn't *have* to watch a brand new movie, but he seems to enjoy it, so why complain about his particular stupid, costly pursuit? If you don't want to validate movie companies' approach, don't buy into it, but don't begrudge those who actually do want it. If it's successful, there will still be more traditional options available to you, and if it isn't successful, then ranton can make due with what is available.
"Is not a sentence" is not a sentence. Well damn.
I just wait until the movie is shown on one of the premium networks that I pay the cable company $$$ to watch. I haven't been to a theater in years - big flat screen television, great sound system, bathroom mere steps away (and CLEAN), no idiots around me talking or using their phones, and snacks bought at much lower prices.
I don't understand the need to be one of the first people to see a movie. When I see people lined up around the block to see a movie the first day it's released, I have to fight back the urge to tell them that the damned movie will be shown tomorrow and the next day and the next day, etc.
Fifty bucks? Count me out.