Earlier this month, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer let out the news that the studio would soon be selling movie downloads through Movielink, CinemaNow and iTunes. Not only that, but when asked when the movies would be available on iTunes (keep in mind Apple hasn't announced a service for feature films yet, since they were only said to be in negotiations with studios), Feltheimer said before the end of 2006. That gives us only a few months left in this year until we get to see if Apple can do for movies what it has done for music. Industry experts are expecting Apple to make an official announcement on September 12, when the Apple Expo 2006 opens in Paris. BusinessWeek is also reporting that the pricing for these iTunes movie downloads will be $14.99 for new releases and $9.99 for older titles. Additionally, the magazine says that Apple will be releasing a new wide-screen iPod, news of which has been rumored for many months now.
Now, according to every internet complaint out there, the pricing for movie downloads are still a problem. If this pricing plan is correct, then iTunes is a bit cheaper for new releases than their competitors, but it still isn't great. Yet, when the service first began with music downloads, it didn't seem plausible that so many people would pay even a dollar for songs they were previously downloading for free, and look what happened there. Could Apple revolutionize digital distribution of movies within the next few months? We'll just have to wait and see.
1. Oh boy... watch out for tomorrow... that's all I'll say... ;)
Posted at 9:23PM on Sep 5th 2006 by Alex Billington