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Although it's been a long time since Napster put the fear in the music industry, co-founder Sean Parker has been quietly influencing the world of tech ever since. As an early Facebook investor, he helped pioneer modern social networking and now he wants to do the same with getting new movie releases in the home at the same time as the cinema: for £35 a pop.
There are two main reasons that despite everything under the sun being streamable, on demand, when we want it, often for a small monthly or one-off fee, the one media that no one can access (legally) at home, is movies that have just been released. Those are restricted to cinema, because there's concern that streaming would kill the traditional cinema industry and that they would be too easy to pirate.
The first part of that argument is an inevitable one, but it means evolution rather than death. The cinema industry ‘died' before when TV was first popularised and it simply adapted and became what it is today.
Of course there are still some movies that really aren't worth paying that much for. Source: Universal
The second point, is one that Parker wants to fix with his new venture called, the Screening Room. It will require a specialised £100 set top box, with hardware anti-piracy restrictions and each movie will cost £35 to play – but the idea is to make it possible to watch brand new movies, at home while they're in the cinema; though only once (as per Variety).
To try and encourage movie studios to trial the idea, Parker's company is offering a 40 per cent cut of the fee. The anti-piracy measures may be the big selling point though, as streaming has proved a huge success when it comes to older films and TV content, so if The Screening Room can guarantee the movies won't be ripped, it may be on to a winner.
But of course anti-piracy technology rarely stays strong forever.
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KitGuru Says: I'd pay that to watch a new movie at home. Two cinema tickets cost over £20 now any way, plus travel, plus food and you can't pause it. I'd pay £35 to avoid all that.
It’s an interesting idea, I thought of something like this a while ago, where perhaps a website showed live viewings over the net instead of at the cinema. Piracy is definitely the biggest concern. Even with this, cams are still perfectly possible and they would actually be much higher quality, no people walking in front, more time to set up the camera etc. Not to mention any kind of external recording device like those used to capture gameplay footage that merely read the data on its way through shouldn’t have any issue picking up a good picture.
The price of this is both good and bad though. If you are living alone then £35 per movie is super expensive. But if you have a family of four that regularly go to the cinema then this quickly becomes the cheaper option. My cinema charges £10 a ticket and about £60 for popcorn, which I’m against being allowed in cinemas along with any other noisy food, so it can quickly become decent value if you are a regular cinema going family!
60 pounds for popcorn, you are being ripped off.
Ill make them for you for a clean 20 note, with butter 😀
This wont stop pirates,or set back netflix though ..
haha was exaggerating slightly 😛 but it is damn expensive.
$35? I’d much rather pay $15 at a Theater.
I HATE the cinema experience and I just won’t go anymore. Annoying kids throwing popcorn around, yelling and laughing throughout the movie (not even in relation to the movie), people who refuse to turn their phone off and I always seem to get stuck with the little shit kicking the back of my seat…
£20 is a conservative amount you’d be paying these days if you go on your own and want a drink + snack too. With a group of friends it can get real expensive real fast. I’m not going to pay that for an experience I ultimately know I’m not going to enjoy.
I’d definitely pay £35 for some movies, ones which I really want to see. To be able to see it on my terms, in the comfort of my own home with a bag of popcorn which is 3 bags for £1 not £11 each. That initial investment of £100 for the box though will be a barrier for a lot of people, I wouldn’t invest that much into a system like that until it’s shown to get all the big studios and not just a few and indie studios which is what I actually expect would happen if that system did materialize.
Well, just torrent and keep your £35.