[jcoley2]

Forget TV and networks and their concern over piracy over their 'free' content, here comes Hollywood altering the business model of Movieland:

http://news.com.com/Soderbergh+does+...?tag=nefd.lede

I recently heard on a Podcast that Movie ticket sales are down for the third consecutive year (although revenue I think is acutally up some as they keep raising ticket prices.) It is clear that consumers are demanding both (1) a better experience (most movie theaters suck, and even the good ones now run 20 minutes of Ads) and (2) content on demand when and where you want to see it in your preferred format.

With the proliferation of BIG screen TVs, the home theater experience is now equal if not better than going to theater (and the popcorn is better too ). I think Hollywood is going to be pleasantly surprised as they continue to experiment with this, consumers will elect to get new movies directly from Hollywood in DVD or cable the same day it is released in theaters. Hell, if I were NetFlix, I would steal a page out of Amazon's playbook: have the DVDs at your house they day it is released in theaters just like Amazon does with new books (think Harry Potter.)

I hope Apple is planning to be a part of this in some way, although in general, the middleman gets cut out the equation.

Wonder what the record companies are thinking, sitting on their asses.

[kieran]

jcoley2......(and the popcorn is better too ). ..

I'll have to disagree with you on that one. I rent movies and go the the theater jsut to get the popcorn.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Terminator (the first one) was released in the theaters and on VHS at the same time. They thought the movie would flop was the reasoning I heard behind this. I think they were wrong.

[ZachPruckowski]

Originally Posted by jcoley2 I think Hollywood is going to be pleasantly surprised as they continue to experiment with this, consumers will elect to get new movies directly from Hollywood in DVD or cable the same day it is released in theaters. Hell, if I were NetFlix, I would steal a page out of Amazon's playbook: have the DVDs at your house they day it is released in theaters just like Amazon does with new books (think Harry Potter.)

Problem: The Movie industry resists change, because they don't want to rock the boat. They opposed VCRs for goodness sakes. They seem to think that Americans paying them $15-20 a month is their God-given right, regardless of how much work they do. That's the number one problem right now: Hollywood Quality. Half the movies they throw out into theaters are bland knockoffs of other movies or are totally unoriginal, or just rely on "BOOMs and boobs" to entertain people.

Having worked at a movie theater, and being a potential Media Studies major, I can say that the #1 reason to see a movie in theaters is the atmosphere. I work at a second-run movie theater, which means the films we show are at best a week or two away from DVD release. We still get a good showing anyways, and it's a relatively old and spartan theater.

[SKMDC]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend Terminator (the first one) was released in the theaters and on VHS at the same time. They thought the movie would flop was the reasoning I heard behind this. I think they were wrong.

That's not accurate. They were not released at the same time.

[morningstarrising]

Well we will see..This year three movies are coming out that will be available in the theaters, on DVD and onDemand(Cable) all at the same time...

That is the test. We'll see if Apple gets in on that...or not.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by SKMDC That's not accurate. They were not released at the same time.

I used to have a first run Terminator movie poster (worked at a movie theater for awhile) which advertised the VHS for only 19.99.

Just found this factoid about Terminator on IMDB:

Originally Posted by IMDB Shots through the Terminator's vision shows a dump of the ROM assembler code for the Apple II operation system. If you own an Apple II, enter at the basic prompt: ] call -151 * p This will give you the terminator view. Other code visible is written in COBOL.

[SKMDC]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend I used to have a first run Terminator movie poster (worked at a movie theater for awhile) which advertised the VHS for only 19.99.

The movie of The Terminator came out on my birthday in 1984. It did less than 40 million at the box office. It was a low budget movie so it was somewhat of a success.
But it's release to video rental (in 1985) and showings on cable that created the legend that The Terminator became.

[Artap99]

Not to do the bare minimum or anything, but what are the movies being released on DVD and On-Demand at the same time as their theatrical release?

PS. A Jean Claude movie was supposed to be shown on TV, then released on DVD/VHS, and then put into theaters. In the end, I don't think the movie was ever released at all.

[SKMDC]

I think Soderbergh plans to do three, Bubble being the first.
Disney's Iger expressed interest in the idea last year but back off when Theater owners went ballistic.
The window between theatrical release and DVD release has been shrinking and Iger expressed interest in trying out a theatrical/DVD simultaneous release on certain movies to cut the expense of advertising.
I think studios are becoming frustrated with some of the complaints voiced above, shitty theaters, shitty sound, horrible image projection. (I saw Munich the other night unfocussed, despite my complaints to focus the thing three times)