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Hollywood, Apple Said To Mull Rental Plan, Defying Theaters (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Movie studios are considering whether to ignore the objections of cinema chains and forge ahead with a plan to offer digital rentals of films mere weeks after they appear in theaters, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the biggest proponents, including Warner Bros and Universal Pictures, are pressing on in talks with Apple and Comcast on ways to push ahead with the project even without theater chains, the people said. After months of negotiations, the two sides have been unable to arrive at a mutually beneficial way to create a $30 to $50 premium movie-download product. The leading Hollywood studios, except for Walt Disney, are eager to introduce a new product to make up for declining sales of DVDs and other home entertainment in the age of Netflix. They have discussed sharing a split of the revenue from premium video on demand, or PVOD, with the cinema chains if they give their blessing to the concept. But the exhibitors have sought a long-term commitment of as much as 10 years for that revenue split, which the studios have rejected, the people said. Deals with potential distributors such as Apple and Comcast could be reached as soon as early next year to sell digital downloads of major films as soon as two weeks after they debut in theaters, the people said.
I'm sorry, I'm not paying $30-$50 to watch any single movie. I can get entire seasons of TV shows I love for $20.
The screen and sound simply can't be replicated at home.
Yes it can. With 4K and ATMOS, there's not much difference. I'm still running standard Bluray and 7.1 in my home theater, and honestly, it's good enough for me at this time. My screen isn't as big as a commercial theater, but I also don't sit as far away from it. So it fills as much of my field of vision. My wife, who couldn't care less about tech stuff, has mentioned how poor the sound at the commercial theaters are in comparison to what we have at home.
Even with 2K resolution compared to 4K at the theater, the comfort of the seats at home, no other people talking or on cell phones, the ability to pause, etc. it's a trade off that I'm OK with. Plus a Bluray is $20, or less for a lot of the older movies I like. Which makes it cheaper than the price of tickets alone.
The real offensive part is being charged $20 for a large popcorn and 2 drinks. Or if I'm alone, $16 for a popcorn and small glass of water.
The snack stand is going to be the demise of the theater.
Unfortunately in many cases, the snack stand is the only revenue the actual theater gets. The movie companies have gotten so damn greedy, that in the case of a lot of big block buster films, they don't get to keep any of the money from ticket sales for the first couple of weeks. Theater owners love sleeper hits that the studios think are throwaways, because they get to keep a big chunk of those sales. Things like Star Wars, they get all of their money from concessions.