The other day DirecTV finally made it official by announcing their Premium VOD service, which will launch today with the Adam Sandler film Just Go With It. The idea of the service is that it offers films only 60 days after their initial release instead of the usual 120. So, you potentially have the chance to watch a major wide release while it’s still in theaters, however you’ll need to pay a higher price to do so.
To start out with they’re charging $29.99 per movie, and for that price you get the film for 48 hours. The service will launch one movie at a time, beginning with Just Go with It, and then moving on to other films like The Adjustment Bureau, Cedar Rapids and Hall Pass. Naturally, theaters are upset about this because they see this service cutting into their exclusivity window, and some big filmmakers are upset because they see this potentially taking away from the movie theater experience, not to mention it being an easier way for people to pirate movies well in advance of them arriving on DVD or Blu-ray.
I’ve noted previously that, as a consumer, I’m all for having choices when it comes to how we watch our content, but I don’t want to see movie theaters closing. There is still nothing quite like watching a movie on the big screen, and while I’d love to see theaters get a little more creative when it comes to appealing to the general moviegoer (see: The Alamo Drafthouse), I am not for any program that could eventually lead to theaters closing down. That’s not a good thing for movies, and all it’ll do is make your life more difficult when your local theater is forced to shut down because it’s losing profits.
What do you think? Will you spring for the extra money to watch a movie at home 60 days before it hits DVD?
