In an attempt to bolster digital sales, Fox Entertainment Group has unveiled a new program known as Digital HD. With a catalog of over 600 films, Digital HD films will be available for purchase on Amazon, iTunes, CinemaNow, and VUDU, as well as the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and in more than 50 countries. That’s all well and good, but what makes this new initiative noteworthy is that future films, beginning with Prometheus, will be released via Digital HD before being made available on other platforms. The digital release of Prometheus will take place on September 18th, three weeks before its release on DVD and Blu-ray, although most of the upcoming films (including Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and The Watch) will have their digital release two weeks early.
Deadline reports that these films will be released at just under $15 (so presumably $14.99), which would undercut current services which charge closer to $20. It’s not all sunshine and lollipops, though, because streaming rights are kept within each service’s walled gardens with the exception of VUDU, which will also follow the industry-standard of Ultraviolet, which is not necessarily a good thing.
To be perfectly honest, I can’t see myself buying a movie digitally. I will rent them digitally or stream them or whatever, but if I’m going to spend $15 on something that I don’t physically own, I don’t want it attached to some proprietary service not run by people I have already given way too much money to (and I can easily pretend loves me).
So call me when Digital HD is available on Steam, Fox. Then we can talk.
[Via Deadline]
