This past week I read an article on The Verge (which was based on this article in Variety) about Jeffrey Katzenberg’s vision of the future of movies. There were parts I liked about that vision, but others which I personally am not cheering for. One of the good things is that the time between release in cinema and that on demand and DVD/Blu Ray will be much shorter: 3 weeks. Great thing about that is that you do not have to wait long before you can watch that new blockbuster at home. It still is not my preferred period (simultaneous would be awesome), but the reasoning is that during the first three weeks of a theatrical run most money is made.
Now for the negative. He expects that we will not pay the same price for the movie on demand based on screen size. Now if you currently check on iTunes there is a difference in price between an SD and a HD version, but that is about it. His prediction is the following pricing: “A movie screen will be $15. A 75-inch TV will be $4. A smartphone will be $1.99”. You could argue those prices are not that bad (4 dollars for a three week old movie is not very expensive), but at a time when people are watching movies on their tablets, sending those movies to their screens with Airplay or Chromecast all for the same price this pricing model seems very strange. Also considering fixed fee offerings by Netflix and similar services I feel this is still not the future of films.
What are your thoughts on these predictions?
I don’t like that idea. Then again, I’m not a fan of watching films on tablets or smartphones. It just ruins the scope of the picture. For me, I’m used to waiting months and months between a film and its home video release. Especially if it’s from Criterion who always put out a good DVD/Blu-Ray release that is often supervised by the filmmaker and with extras. If that is the future of paying per inch, I want no part of it.
Who knows, but I don’t think it is feasibly because people will find a work-around like you describe–download on iTunes and transmit to your TV through Apple TV or something else.
By his logic they should be charging more for longer movies, and yet I pay the same price for 90 minute comedy or a 3 1/2 hour epic.
Already, here in the UK, if you go see a film at the Vue cinemas, on their Xtreme screen, it’s more expensive than their “regular”s screens, as it’s bigger.
I don’t understand paying different prices for what you’re viewing the film on. You’re paying for a licence of sorts to see the film. The content is the same for whatever it is you’re seeing, whatever you see it on, so why should it be different. Lunacy. Drive people to piracy, why don’t they!
I think that paying X amount to watch on an iPhone and a higher amount for a big TV just makes little sense from the public’s point of view. I do think it reflects how the movie industry views how people value movies. They tried this with 3D charging more for the experience, but in the end the public no longer find it much of an ‘experience’ so 3D is no longer the big movie buzzword. I see that if the industry wants more money for a bigger screen yet again they are playing into pirates hands. The movie industry continues to lag behind delivery technology, and only ever thinks of more creative ways to get an extra dollar out of a viewing rather than looking it from the pint of view of what the public actually wants. This is a new age and if they do not start to embrace this new age pirates will get stronger and there will be no money to make great movies.