How Much Would You Pay to Watch New Movies at Home?

movie-theater_end.jpgAfter an FCC ruling allowing the activation of technology that blocks duplication of video-on-demand titles, studios have been quietly planning to launch a "premium" VOD option of first run movies for $24.99. Predictably, movie theaters are not too happy. Studios are currently planning to wait 45 days after theatrical release to make these premium on-demand titles available. With a few exceptions, this is the time frame in which most theatrical releases make the bulk of their box-office gross. Still, now might be a good time for theaters to start actually enforcing the no cell phone rule. [New York Times]



Comments

  • Bronson says:

    Sounds awful. Sometimes, films call for the magic of the silver screen. Lines around the block. Crazy costumes worn by fan-boys and fan-girls alike. The smell of popcorn. A crowded theater. People getting excited, getting pumped, getting revved for an experience.
    Think about these big event movies - the Harry Potters, the Lord of the Rings, the Star Wars, the Inceptions. These films were made to be experienced in the theater, in the midst of other human beings. Jeez....talk about bowling alone.

  • Heather says:

    Frankly.. I dont like watching movies@home

  • casting couch says:

    I'll stick with two buck Tuesday rentals, thanks.

  • sean says:

    I'd rather wait till the movie is released on DVD/Bue Ray, is not like they take years to take it from the theaters to the discs. Also the price is quite high. No, thanks.

  • Alex C. says:

    There's an experience you get when seeing movies in the cinema that you just can't get at home. This might make it easier for those times when life is too busy for a trip to the theatre, but when at all possible I'm still going to get there.

  • stolidog says:

    It's an experience all right. The sudden horror as you realize that the person who sat in your chair right before you did might have been masterbating, or have bed bugs, or the flu or he might have peed his pants!

  • Brian says:

    $24.99 for a movie, 45 days after it's release? WTF are the studios thinking? On top of that the VOD can't be copied, so why not wait for the DVD and pay $19.99 for standard, or $5-$10 more for a Bluray? Even the American people aren't stupid enough to fall for this one, and that's saying something. The price needs to be lowered to no more than $15 for this to work, and even that is probably too high a price.