Recently, Warner Bros. made history by distributing some copies of the Corpse Bride to cinemas via fibre optic link. They sent the film from California to three sites in Japan owned by Toho. Apparently they plan to do the same thing for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Electronic distribution has been touted for a long time, mainly by satellite, because beaming a movie direct to the cinema cuts out the cost of producing thousands of prints (at several thousand dollars a pop), the cost of transporting it to the cinemas and the likelyhood of it being stolen or copied enroute.
This connection wasn’t done by satellite and many cinemas won’t be set up to receive films this way for some time, but with improving broadband speeds satellite might not be necessary and the cost and equipment barriers may drop away, meaning even independent cinemas can take advantage.
The benefits aren’t just on the distribution side either, the lower costs should mean cinemas can show a greater range of films and that more independent films can afford to get distributed or small films get a wider distribution. Four Weddings and a Funeral, for example, was crippled by distribution costs (making prints and sending them to cinemas) I seem to remember, they made it unprofitable at the box office, despite it being a hit. A lot of smaller films still only receive limited releases. If the cost of distributing a movie drops to practically nothing, what’s to stop cinemas cramming in a few shows. Another benefit might be that it’ll stop distributers forcing cinemas to show a certain number of screenings over a specified number of days, essentially block booking, and put the power back in the hands of the cinemas.
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
