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Studios Flirt With Offering Movies Early in Home for $30

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O

Oersted

Member
However, the companies, particularly Fox and Warner Bros., are showing greater flexibility about timing. Initially, Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara had kicked off negotiations with exhibitors by offering to cut them in on a percentage of digital revenues if they agreed to let them debut films on-demand for $50 a rental some 17 days after they opened. Currently, most major movies are only made available to rent some 90 days after their release. Some studios offer films for sale electronically roughly 70 days after their bow in theaters.
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Other studios, particularly Fox and Universal, felt that $50 was too steep a price to ask consumers to pay. They are now trying to get exhibitors to agree to a plan that would involve a lower priced premium on-demand option that was made available at a slightly later date, according to three studio insiders and two exhibition insiders. Fox and Warner Bros., for instance, are considering making films available between 30 to 45 days after their opening, but at $30 a rental, a price they believe won’t give customers sticker shock. Universal, which is seen as being the most aggressive negotiator in these talks, would like the home entertainment debut to remain in the 20-day range.
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More here

https://variety.com/2017/film/news/studios-premium-vod-early-1202013205/

Lock if old
 
X

Xe4

Banned
$30 fucking dollars, fuck that. I'd just go to a matinee for the same cost, and I live 50 miles away from the closest theater. Half that, and I'd do it. $15 is still expensive for a rental, but for getting it early, it'd be worth the cost.

Edit: I suppose the cost is more and more worth it if you split with friends. I suppose watching a theater experience with roommates is totally worth it, given we all live in the middle of fucking nowheresville.
 
7

7DollarHagane

Banned
Xe4 said:
$30 fucking dollars, fuck that. I'd just go to a Matinee for the same cost, and I live 50 miles away from the closest theater. Half that, and I'd do it. $15 is still expensive for a rental, but for getting it early, it'd be worth the cost.
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You aren't going to a theatre for a new release for under $30 unless it's by yourself.
 
A

Arc

Member
Xe4 said:
$30 fucking dollars, fuck that. I'd just go to a matinee for the same cost, and I live 50 miles away from the closest theater. Half that, and I'd do it. $15 is still expensive for a rental, but for getting it early, it'd be worth the cost.
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Thats two tickets. Invite a friend over. This actually sounds like a good idea.

This could totally fuck over theaters though, I can see them pushing back.
 
C

Coriolanus

Banned
Gotta see just how much DRM will be in that stream. I do remember an early release scheme that involved some absolutely ridiculous hardware.
 
C

commedieu

Banned
Do they have something better than hdcp? Because this will result in same day/before region released HD copies in the piracy worls.


But I guess you have screeners already. I imagine there are more people who hate movie theaters, that don't clean up after themselves, than there are pirates.
 
X

Xe4

Banned
7DollarHagane said:
You aren't going to a theatre for a new release for under $30 unless it's by yourself.
Click to expand...

Arc said:
Thats two tickets. Invite a friend over. This actually sounds like a good idea.

This could totally fuck over theaters though, I can see them pushing back.
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*Shrug* Most movies I go to are by myself. Friends or myself are usually too busy to go together, and I live too far from a theater.

I suppose with friends it's worth it.
 
E

ElMexiMerican

Member
Xe4 said:
$30 fucking dollars, fuck that. I'd just go to a matinee for the same cost, and I live 50 miles away from the closest theater. Half that, and I'd do it. $15 is still expensive for a rental, but for getting it early, it'd be worth the cost.
Click to expand...

As a solo experience, the price may seem steep, but if you're planning on going out with a group of three or more friends on a Friday/Saturday night $30 is for sure more enticing. Not only will you end up spending more than you would at a theater, but you also don't have to worry about annoying people in the theater and overpriced concessions. Along with that you also get a more comfortable experience sitting on your couch/bed/whatever at home.
 
F

flkraven

Member
Lol what world are some people living in. $30 and everyone can come by and watch. Could have a viewing party with 5 or 10 friends, and it only costs $30. Also don't need to worry about movie theatre concessions.
 
E

Earthstrike

Member
Yeah, I can totally see this working. People just wanna grab a drink at a friends house and everyone chips in maybe 5 - 10 bucks for a movie. I mean people will shell out a hundred for UFC events.
 
D

Dark Ninja

Member
This is cheaper than going to the theater if you would take 3 or more people or buy any food there. Also I don't have to deal with other people or their kids.
 
L

LumpOfCole

Member
In 3-5 years, I bet we are going to see Twitch Pay Per View which will let us see theatrical releases for $20-30 streamed, with the bonus (downside?) of Twitch Chat.
 
G

greycolumbus

The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
Syntsui said:
No way theaters would be allow this, they would disappear faster than Blockbuster.
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I wouldn't care considering how awful they are. Give me a decent, unique experience that doesn't involve bad 3D. Otherwise, I'm staying my ass home.
 
C

Coriolanus

Banned
commedieu said:
Do they have something better than hdcp? Because this will result in same day/before region released HD copies in the piracy worls.


But I guess you have screeners already. I imagine there are more people who hate movie theaters, that don't clean up after themselves, than there are pirates.
Click to expand...

Oh yes.

Prima doesn't just inspect its own technology to prevent piracy; it also looks into the people using it. A background check is done on all potential customers before they can get their hands on a device, to make sure they have good intentions. A "lengthy" contract, according to Yeager, spells out the responsibilities of streaming the content from the studios.

If a customer owns a screening room, it can have no more than 25 seats. You must have a screen that's at least 100 inches on the diagonal. You also need a static IP address and a fast internet connection, because when you're paying this kind of money, the last thing you want is a movie freezing in the middle of playing.

Because of that, all of the movies available on Prima for the upcoming weekend are downloaded into the device three days in advance.

"That means at any given point there can be between $300 million and $1 billion worth of assets sitting in your home," Yeager said.

Then there's one last step to enjoy the service: Prima uses biometric authentication to activate its device, meaning that the company enrolls your fingerprint on the device so you will have to swipe your finger every time you want to see a movie.

"We basically create a forensic trail from the time the film leaves a studio all the way through the time a client purchases a movie," Yeager said. "So your cousin that's in town can't just sit down and watch a movie."

And if you ever wanted to bring the Prima to your cousin's, forget it. The hard drive has been built to stay in one place forever. At 65 pounds and made of mild steel, the device has sensors, so if it's ever moved it would know.
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obv that thing was made just for saudi princes and the like.

flkraven said:
Lol what world are some people living in. $30 and everyone can come by and watch. Could have a viewing party with 5 or 10 friends, and it only costs $30. Also don't need to worry about movie theatre concessions.
Click to expand...

Yarp. Already works with PPV.
 
B

bigkrev

Member
$30 is significantly cheaper than I was expecting. If you have more than 2 people watching, it's cheaper than a theater!

I live close to a theater and love the theater experience enough that I would still go to theaters, but I could see doing this for something that I had multiple friends who wanted to watch
 
Maximus.

Maximus.

Member
Xe4 said:
$30 fucking dollars, fuck that. I'd just go to a matinee for the same cost, and I live 50 miles away from the closest theater. Half that, and I'd do it. $15 is still expensive for a rental, but for getting it early, it'd be worth the cost.

Edit: I suppose the cost is more and more worth it if you split with friends. I suppose watching a theater experience with roommates is totally worth it, given we all live in the middle of fucking nowheresville.
Click to expand...

Depends where you live. Some places it's $15 a person for a movie. $30-$50 is a good deal if split amongst a few people.
 
A

AxeMan

Member
Lima said:
So what's this fantasy world you live in like?
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B33 said:
That's not going to happen.
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Why not?
Is the idea to get more money for the studio?

As it is I haven't been to the movies (apart from kid movies) for about 10 years I reckon. Reasons are that it's far too expensive for 90-120 minutes of entertainment, you sit around with a load of strangers, ads play for the first 30 minutes.

I'm not the only one that doesn't go to the movies anymore for a variety of reasons. If they had a properly priced alternative I'd jump on it. Paying more to watch it at home rather than the cinema isn't pricing it properly.

People will always pay more to go to the cinema, I don't really understand why but some people like it.
So if they price it properly then there will be minimal impact to the cinema audience but a much greater take up of the home offering
 
M

Makki

Member
I'll wait, thanks but no thanks. Amazon does this shit already in a way by offering Buy options for recently released movies but no rentals. I just wait for the rental.
 
I

iceblade997

Member
Eh, no thanks. Would rather just wait 6-12 months, and sub to Netflix / HBO / Amazon Prime and get far more for the dollar. Even at $15/mo (HBO) you get access to more movies, as well as other content, whilst gaining the benefit this offers of not having to deal with the cinema experience.
 
G

Goldenroad

Member
I guess it kind of combats some people who are just going to watch them at home early for free, but as with any idea to combat piracy, it has to be easier.
 
W

Weetrick

Member
The theaters near my house are $15 - $20+ for a ticket, so $30 doesn't seem outrageous. $30 is the minimum cost for my wife and I to go see a movie. That's not counting food or drinks, or if we upgrade to the nicer reserved seats.

YMMV depending on where you live I guess.
 
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