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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 really enjoy the theater. The screen and sound simply can't be replicated at home. But the price is absolutely rediculous. The $12 admission is a tad high but for an occasional treat not unreasonable. 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.
As a side note. My theater is independent and doesn't show ads. I've been to an AMC recently and felt like Milton from Office space. Wanting to burn the building.
I go once a year, and it'll be to a movie like Star Wars on Day 1 where I want to want to watch it with a loud crowd. 99.9% of the time, I find other people's talking and cellphone glare to be distracting/annoying, and would prefer to use theater money to buy the movie outright a few months later.
If the movie studios kill the theatres then they (the movie studios) will become mere tv studios without an actual tv channel.
Television show production houses are a dime-a-dozen.
Who's going to pay $100 million dollars or more to make yet another made-for-tv movie?
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
This exactly. They have slowly DRM'd themselves out of the DVD/BluRay business by charging $18 for a DVD or $25 for a BluRay and format locking it while services like Netflix and premium Hulu have tons of content to chose from. Want to stream your DVD to your tablet? Sorry, you can't. You need to hit up a digital service like iTunes and pay yet again for the pleasure unless you bought multi-format from the get go. Hell, I have VHS/DVD movies from years ago before online streaming was even a thing, but the MPAA thinks I should be forced to pay again for a digital copy? Why exactly? I only bought a license according to the MPAA, my SD license should be valid in perpetuity. There was no expiration date on my movie.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like