Fox studio head hints deal for early rentals on Apple's iTunes still 6-12 months out

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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
A deal between movie studios and companies like Apple and Comcast to provide early-access movie rentals should be complete within the next 6 to 12 months, the studio head of 20th Century Fox said at a Los Angeles media conference.




Rentals will cost "less than $50," Stacey Snider claimed, according to Bloomberg. She added that while negotiations have been slowed partly because studios are blocked from coordinating on them, efforts have "started to coalesce around a concept."

Typically, rentals and purchases don't begin until at least three months after a movie's premiere. Studios have been floating the idea of opening up rentals anywhere between 17 days and 6 weeks, at a price somewhere between $30 and $50.

Snider's comments may suggest that studios are leaning away from the $50 mark, which would be a difficult sell. $30 would be closer to the price of a pair of theatrical tickets, but if it's accompanied by a long wait time, some customers might still hold off until they can get a rental under $10.

Another unresolved problem is splitting revenue with exhibitors, who could lose out if streaming happens while movies are still in theaters. Studios have reportedly balked at demands for commitments as long as 10 years on that split, and could even choose to cut exhibitors out of the loop, though that would risk some titles being boycotted.

If a deal is at least six months away, Apple is unlikely to make mention of it at its Sept. 12 press event. The company may, however, announce 4K and HDR support on iTunes, matched by a fifth-generation Apple TV.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    $30 is still a bit high but more viable.  Going out to the movies is expensive so our family treats it as a family event thing.  At home, it's too easy for someone to wander off on their own to do homework or play a game and it becomes not so much a family movie night thing.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos...
  • Reply 3 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    sog35 said:
    nht said:
    $30 is still a bit high but more viable.  Going out to the movies is expensive so our family treats it as a family event thing.  At home, it's too easy for someone to wander off on their own to do homework or play a game and it becomes not so much a family movie night thing.
    Save money from not going to the theater for 6 months and build a small theater room.  You can get a decent 100+ inch projector system with surround sound for about $500.  Then lock the door.
    I have a 116" HT projector set up with my aging Von Schwikert HT speakers .  It's the "going out with the kids for fun" part that my wife likes and the "we get to see the movie early" part that the kids like.  

    Me, I'd rather wait a couple months and buy the movie on BluRay because I have a half decent HT setup.  It's no high end Sony 4K setup but the BenQ I have is pretty good.

    Lock the door?  It's my wife that's generally the worst one about wandering away because she doesn't like the movies the kids like.  
    edited September 2017
  • Reply 4 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member

    danny602 said:
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos...
    Lemme see, the last movie we went to was like $60 for the tickets, ~$20 for popcorn x 2, ~$20 for sodas and ICEEs and another ~$10 for nachos...so out of pocket was like $120-$130 bucks.

    At least the damn theater had assigned motorized reclining seats which are better than mine...
  • Reply 5 of 13
    It costs me €12,50 to see the latest movie at the local movie theatre and that includes my XL popcorn and beer
  • Reply 6 of 13
    If it's under $50 and you're able pause, rewind, forward the movie, I'd say it may be worth it. A family could easily spend more than $50 on tickets, food & drinks, gas to go to the movie theater. Just go to a grocery store and buy snacks. You don't have to deal with kids demanding to go the restroom in the middle of the movie or them getting bored and making noise that annoys other people.
    edited September 2017
  • Reply 7 of 13
    danny602 said:
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos...
    We all know movie theater food is overpriced. Just do a simple math on how much it'll cost (to include food & gas) to go to a theater compared to being in the comfort & privacy of your home. If you're single it may not be worth it, but for a family w/ kids it may be worth it.
    edited September 2017
  • Reply 8 of 13
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    danny602 said:
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos…
    You do realize that most people go to the movies in groups, right? There's no way you're going to get this at the same cost as an individual ticket and they have to find a way to mitigate the risk to theaters because of theaters shut down, stop buying their films, or even have fewer showtimes this could negatively impact their bottom line twice over.

    And all that's before we consider that doing a "cam" would be much easier in the home, even if we make an assumption that Apple can absolutely protect the signal with HDCP from the Apple TV to the TV—which we can't (video). Did you know that the same week that The Hitman's Bodyvguard (2017) was released to theaters in the US it also became available as a quality HD (i.e.: not a guy holding a camcorder in the back of a theater in Budapest) to download on torrent and newsgroup websites because it was released straight to Netflix in Japan? If you're not aware, that film only hit theaters a couple Fridays ago in the US.


    So, can someone please explain to me why it's in the best interest of movie studios to make deals to have high grossing films released to the home where they can be more easily stolen where 2x the price of the average, single, adult ticket is an extreme asking price when it can be viewed by as many people as you can fit into your living room and likely with multiple viewings and the convenience of being able to ability to pause and rewind scenes?
  • Reply 9 of 13
    Soli said:
    danny602 said:
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos…
    You do realize that most people go to the movies in groups, right? There's no way you're going to get this at the same cost as an individual ticket and they have to find a way to mitigate the risk to theaters because of theaters shut down, stop buying their films, or even have fewer showtimes this could negatively impact their bottom line twice over.

    And all that's before we consider that doing a "cam" would be much easier in the home, even if we make an assumption that Apple can absolutely protect the signal with HDCP from the Apple TV to the TV—which we can't (video). Did you know that the same week that The Hitman's Bodyvguard (2017) was released to theaters in the US it also became available as a quality HD (i.e.: not a guy holding a camcorder in the back of a theater in Budapest) to download on torrent and newsgroup websites because it was released straight to Netflix in Japan? If you're not aware, that film only hit theaters a couple Fridays ago in the US.


    So, can someone please explain to me why it's in the best interest of movie studios to make deals to have high grossing films released to the home where they can be more easily stolen where 2x the price of the average, single, adult ticket is an extreme asking price when it can be viewed by as many people as you can fit into your living room and likely with multiple viewings and the convenience of being able to ability to pause and rewind scenes?
    I'm sure that's one of the concerns the studios have and they're probably talking with Apple, Google, and others to minimize piracy. That's a bigger concern if they're releasing at the same time as the movie theaters but this says releasing movies for home viewing a few weeks after theatrical release. 
  • Reply 10 of 13
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Soli said:
    danny602 said:
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos…
    You do realize that most people go to the movies in groups, right? There's no way you're going to get this at the same cost as an individual ticket and they have to find a way to mitigate the risk to theaters because of theaters shut down, stop buying their films, or even have fewer showtimes this could negatively impact their bottom line twice over.

    And all that's before we consider that doing a "cam" would be much easier in the home, even if we make an assumption that Apple can absolutely protect the signal with HDCP from the Apple TV to the TV—which we can't (video). Did you know that the same week that The Hitman's Bodyvguard (2017) was released to theaters in the US it also became available as a quality HD (i.e.: not a guy holding a camcorder in the back of a theater in Budapest) to download on torrent and newsgroup websites because it was released straight to Netflix in Japan? If you're not aware, that film only hit theaters a couple Fridays ago in the US.


    So, can someone please explain to me why it's in the best interest of movie studios to make deals to have high grossing films released to the home where they can be more easily stolen where 2x the price of the average, single, adult ticket is an extreme asking price when it can be viewed by as many people as you can fit into your living room and likely with multiple viewings and the convenience of being able to ability to pause and rewind scenes?
    I'm sure that's one of the concerns the studios have and they're probably talking with Apple, Google, and others to minimize piracy. That's a bigger concern if they're releasing at the same time as the movie theaters but this says releasing movies for home viewing a few weeks after theatrical release.
    That will work for some that fizzle out very quickly, but the biggest are very popular in the theaters for awhile, and then you have many others that are released in LA and NY for a weeks before going national, and then you the occasional "sleeper" film that will grow in interest by word of mouth after its released.

    Still, if it was a matter of waiting just a few weeks instead of waiting a half a year or longer to watch at home, I may go to the movies less… and I pay for MoviePass and have a  great theater a short walk from my front door.
  • Reply 11 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Soli said:
    danny602 said:
    $30 for a freakin rental!!! I'll pass thank you, not unless that includes hot popcorn, an ICEE, candy bar and perhaps some nachos…
    You do realize that most people go to the movies in groups, right? There's no way you're going to get this at the same cost as an individual ticket and they have to find a way to mitigate the risk to theaters because of theaters shut down, stop buying their films, or even have fewer showtimes this could negatively impact their bottom line twice over.

    And all that's before we consider that doing a "cam" would be much easier in the home, even if we make an assumption that Apple can absolutely protect the signal with HDCP from the Apple TV to the TV—which we can't (video). Did you know that the same week that The Hitman's Bodyvguard (2017) was released to theaters in the US it also became available as a quality HD (i.e.: not a guy holding a camcorder in the back of a theater in Budapest) to download on torrent and newsgroup websites because it was released straight to Netflix in Japan? If you're not aware, that film only hit theaters a couple Fridays ago in the US.


    So, can someone please explain to me why it's in the best interest of movie studios to make deals to have high grossing films released to the home where they can be more easily stolen where 2x the price of the average, single, adult ticket is an extreme asking price when it can be viewed by as many people as you can fit into your living room and likely with multiple viewings and the convenience of being able to ability to pause and rewind scenes?
    Because they aren't hard to steal now and pirates don't really care about video quality?  If they get a $1B box office by selling 33M $30 digital downloads that's just as good right?
  • Reply 12 of 13
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member

    One of the main reason people don't go to the theater is not ticket price, but the actual price and bother of everything else.

    A $30 dollar film for a family of 4 were they don't have to do the whole expedition out would both save a lot of money and be a lot easier.

    This ease and lower price would result in more people seeing the movie when the hype is high thus they would ultimately get more revenues.
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