Amazon's New 'Prime Video Cinema' Offers Movies Now Playing in Theaters (cnet.com) 36
Amazon just launched "Prime Video Cinema," which lets you buy and watch movies that are just now playing in theaters, reports CNET:
Movies currently offered through the hub include Onward, The Hunt, The Invisible Man and Emma, although Onward is only available at the $18.49 purchase price, while the others are only available for rental at that same reduced price. They'll be available to rent for 48 hours.
NBCUniversal said Tuesday it would make movies available to rent online in the home the same day as their global theatrical releases due to the coronavirus outbreak. iTunes will also offer the titles for streaming purchase and rental... Movies usually spend upward of six months in theaters before they move on to predetermined dates for release on other formats, such digital downloads and rentals, DVDs and, later, TV and streaming.
NBCUniversal said Tuesday it would make movies available to rent online in the home the same day as their global theatrical releases due to the coronavirus outbreak. iTunes will also offer the titles for streaming purchase and rental... Movies usually spend upward of six months in theaters before they move on to predetermined dates for release on other formats, such digital downloads and rentals, DVDs and, later, TV and streaming.
Reduced price? (Score:3)
Onward is only available at the $18.49 purchase price, while the others are only available for rental at that same reduced price.
I didn't see anything to the contrary in TFS/A, so am I missing something or is $18.49 "that same reduced price" for a rental? 'Cause that doesn't seem like a deal. I live alone and that would be twice a single matinee ticket (around here).
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Reduced price? That's like double the price of most tickets around here - forget that, I can survive on 2nd runs - sorry Hollywierd. No way I'm gonna pony up THAT kind of money without a job anymore thanks to everyone being stuck at home.
Re:Reduced price? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's not a good price if you're alone, but if just two people are watching then it's roughly the same price as going to the theater. If a whole family is watching, it's a substantial savings.
Once people get used to this, they won't want to go back. Being able to pause is a massive benefit alone. Not having to deal with dicks playing with their cellphones or talking loudly, likewise.
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"Once people get used to this, they won't want to go back."
I believe they will. But not in numbers to sustain the number of theaters we currently have.
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I believe they will. But not in numbers to sustain the number of theaters we currently have.
I think a lot depends on whether they can restore exclusive first runs to the cinema. Different parts of the world (down to region/state/city) will return to normal functioning at different times, so if things slide back into normality with simultanuous release being the new norm it'll be hard for them to switch back. It's also possible many of them will have gone under, so people aren't coming simply because it's now too far to go. Or they're still afraid of crowds and late infections, like I'm not worried
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It is a money to burn thing. People with a really big screen or cinema room to pose with their friends 'er' cough, cough, audience about how well off they are. At this time, people will start visiting each other a lot, especially those with money to burn, can't pose without a crowd.
Re:Reduced price? (Score:4, Insightful)
I have a 65-inch TV in my bedroom. I paid $450 for it at Costco.
That is less than half what my spouse paid for her cell phone.
The days when anyone was impressed by a big TV are long past.
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You think so? I guess you haven't seen Frank's 2000" TV.
Re: Reduced price? (Score:2)
No kidding. I bought my current 65â TV nine years ago.
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It's not a good price if you're alone, but if just two people are watching and they have large leather recliners, a large 4K HDR television and 7.1 surround sound system, then it's roughly the same price as going to the theater. If a whole family is watching, it's a substantial savings.
Fixed. Because the visual and auditory experience matters too, IMO.
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I find that 1080p and DTS 5.1 is plenty, especially since I have the volume control. And most theaters don't have large leather recliners, either, and my popcorn is better than theirs, and so are my beverages, so that compensates for only having a 52" screen... Which has better color reproduction than their projector system. I know because I checked it with my colorimeter.
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Far to expensive for mere 1080p and DTS 5.1 -- that is called DVD Quality -- 1080p at "scrunched at to ratshit" streaming quality with a crap DTS 5.1 soundtrack should be about $2.99 per movie or less. For the $18 price I would want AT LEAST BluRay quality 1080p video and DTS MA or (in a pinch) Dolby TrueHD -- and while you are at it include the either the ATMOS or DTS:X metadata.
I can download for free a file with quality in excess of "streaming quality". And I get to keep it and play it on any device I
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Why, that is their set. Their content, their product to pay for and set a price for.
To later reduce at some time if needed...
Should the price get set at a level people cant and wont pay for... their loss. Time for a new lower price until the movie sells again.
If the people pay now.. they make money and can reinvest in the next movie. The price stays the same for a while.
Hardly generous (Score:3, Insightful)
Given that even Australia has shut every cinema in the country from midday local time and soon, if not already, the rest of the world will do so too, then:
They are doing this to survive. They aren't doing it to help anybody but themselves.
Re: Hardly generous (Score:2)
Well so what and why should they?
And will movie theaters demand cut changes when (Score:2)
And will movie theaters demand cut changes when they reopen?
Amazon: Early Release "The Vast of Night?" (Score:1)
I realize that I look like I'm schilling for Amazon, but -- I've really wanted to see this movie for a long time, it's already done and they were just holding on to it to make for a dramatic theater release -- but, since there's not actually going to be any theaters in short order, when they all go out of business do to CoViD-19, will they just release it direct-to-video already?!?
I wanna see this movie! [imdb.com]
now playibg in theaters (Score:3)
Are cinemas now selling overpriced soda and popcorn to go?
HDMI copy-protection has beeen cracked, right? (Score:4, Interesting)
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The pirates use special stream ripping software. The streaming companies generally don't bother with watermarking because it doesn't stand up in court anyway. Much of the time it just leads them to some innocent person whose credit card or Netflix account password was stolen, and anyone who was dumb enough to use their own card will just claim their account was hacked anyway.
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The pirates use special stream ripping software. The streaming companies generally don't bother with watermarking because it doesn't stand up in court anyway. Much of the time it just leads them to some innocent person whose credit card or Netflix account password was stolen, and anyone who was dumb enough to use their own card will just claim their account was hacked anyway.
I wouldn't be surprised if they rip from two different streams and compare either, that would remove any trivial metadata markers. Encoding a unique stream for every customer would be a huge resource drain.
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Indeed, and when you look at recent releases it seems that they are just repackaging the streamed data into an MKV container without re-encoding it so they must be confident that it's not going to be traced back to them. Later in the day you get re-encoded versions with smaller file sizes.
And why not all the time? (Score:3)
I'd rather pay $20 and watch at home on my 120" screen then go the movies.
Re:And why not all the time? (Score:5, Funny)
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+1 funny and I bet some people won't even get it. #sad
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They haven't wanted to do that in the past, and people haven't clamored for it loudly enough for it to happen anyway, but I suspect they will do now.
Now that streaming releases can win awards, there's no reason why the studios wouldn't want to.
It will absolutely murder theaters, though. That doesn't bother me any, but people who like that experience will be bummed.
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For those of us with families, it's an amazing deal. Movie tickets for a family of 4 can easily cost $30+. With this deal, my family can watch the movie multiple times, rewind to parts we loved the most, pause if anyone needs to go to the bathroom, etc. Granted, the only one my family is interested in is Onward and they're releasing that on Disney+ in a week or two so we won't be renting it. I could definitely see spending more money on digital rentals and less on movie theater tickets, though.
Onward is free for D+ on April 3rd (Score:3)
If you subscribe to Disney+ Onward will be available on April 3. They already moved the release date for Frozen 2 way up so you can watch it now...
The whole D+ service for a month is way cheaper than renting Onward from Amazon...
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That's what we're doing, but generally speaking it's still a better deal to rent the movie from Amazon than to take a family of 4 to the movie theater to see it.
U.S only? (Score:3)
Seems to be a U.S. only thing. None of the movies listed in the summary is on Prime where I live.
Good job Amazon! (Score:2)
Heeat (Score:2)
I have been asking for this for years. Thank you.
Now can you make movies I would actually go to the theater for available? Start with Top Gun Maverick. Thanks.
Bet they rushed that one out (Score:2)