Peter said recently in a response to the questions "is this film worth seeing in the theater or should we wait for DVD?", if a movie is worth seeing, it's worth seeing in a theater.
So Peter, I've got a question. Mark Cuban, the billionaire / media-mogul / IU Alum is planning on showing movies produced by his company Magnolia Pictures on TV before they are released in the theater.
His hope is that they will do better at the box office because of this rather than worse (as would be expected: "why pay $10 if I can watch it for free?").
What's your opinion, does this make sense or not?
(read the full Wired.com article | here)
1 comment:
I just read the article over at Wired. To begin with, what Cuban says about the theatrical experience differing from the home television experience is right on. The energy and excitement, especially on opening night, and watching a film with many people with strong and varied reactions is only possible in the theater. That being said, I've seen revivals and rereleases that have stirred up the same energy among the crowd, so this is not exclusive to a newly released film. So, could a great film in a theater that's already premiered on television be a good thing? Sure, if it's a good film. But why? Why give away for free what is worth paying to see? It's like really high quality YouTube if you ask me. If Cuban can make money with this model, good for him. But I hope he doesn't. George Lucas is (or already has) changed film to digital. That's great for Sci Fi special effect flicks and cheap distribution, but what does it do for the quality of film. Both Lucas and now Cuban seem bent on change, but not improvement. Thanks for the iteresting post Ben.
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