As box-office revenues and DVD sales continue to decline, Hollywood is looking for new ways to tempt you to spend your entertainment dollar. One option that’s been floated in the past is offering home viewers the option to pay a bit more to see first-run theatrical films before they hit DVD, Blu-Ray and standard On-Demand services.
The idea hasn’t gone over well with theater owners, who see the closing of the release window as a threat to their box-office sales.
There is also a concern that consumers may not pay $25-30 for a movie without getting some kind of physical product in return.
Studios are addressing that concern by considering a plan that would offer those who rent first-run movies via pay per view a coupon for a physical copy of the DVD or Blu-Ray when the film hits shelves.
“There’s been some discussion of that as a way to calm retailer fears,” Adams Media Research’s Tom Adams tells the Hollywood Reporter. “The other reason for doing it is that they would be asking consumers to spend a lot of money for the initial rental.”
Hollywood’s hope is to find a way to curb piracy and still offer consumers more options to watch first-run films at home as quickly possible. According to the Reporter, Warner Brothers and Disney are considering rolling out a plan that would offer first-run movies to view at home by the end of the year.
If you want to curb piracy then stop making coplete crap.
I’d love it! I could download dvd quality movies even sooner!