Want to watch new releases without having to go to the theater? You may be able to do so very soon.
According to Variety, several prominent Hollywood directors are backing a new service called Screening Room, which will allow customers to view movies at home on the same day they open in theaters. Each film will cost $50 for a 48-hour rental period, also charging a one-time fee of $150 for a set-top box that transmits the movies.
If $50 for one film sounds expensive, keep in mind that Screening Room's demographic is not one or two individuals watching the movie themselves. Rather, the service hopes to target families, for whom a trip to the theater is a highly expensive venture. Between tickets and concessions, a night out at the cinema for a family of four can often approach $100, making Screening Room an attractive alternative.
Among those directors backing the project is Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson, who says Screening Room isn't about moving the theater experience into homes. Rather, it's about appealing to a demographic that does not normally go to the movies very often.
"Screening Room will expand the audience for a movie – not shift it from cinema to living room," Jackson said in a statement. "It does not play off studio against theater owner. Instead it respects both, and is structured to support the long term health of both exhibitors and distributors – resulting in greater sustainability for the wider film industry itself.”
Theater chains might find the service to be threatening to their business. In fact, Regal is said to be skeptical of the plan. But to help assuage those fears, Screening Room says exhibitors will receive as much as $20 of the $50 rental fee. In addition, customers will receive two free tickets to go see the film in theaters, which could entice them to watch it again on the big screen and purchase concessions.
Other directors who are backing the service include Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Martin Scorsese, Taylor Hackford, Frank Marshall and J.J. Abrams.
This is the latest in a series of conflicts between studios, who aim to release new movies at home as quickly as possible, and cinema chains, who struggle to maintain a window of exclusivity. Last fall, Paramount announced they would be releasing Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension digitally just 17 days after it left theaters. In direct response to this news, many chains refused to show the film at all, as we previously reported. In the end, the horror sequel was only screened in 1,600 theaters compared to the previous entry’s 2,800.