Major Hollywood studios are pushing theater chains to let people watch new movies much earlier than usual amid growing pressure from dwindling home entertainment profits, per L.A. Times' Ryan Faughnder:
- "The main studios pushing the initiative — Warner Bros., Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox — want customers to be able to watch select movies in their homes 30 to 45 days after they hit the multiplex, less than half the time it usually takes."
- "Consumers would pay $30 to $50 to watch the movies, and theaters would get a cut of the revenue from the premium video-on-demand offerings."
Why it matters: "The change would represent a significant departure from the way Hollywood has done business and highlights how rapidly shifting consumer viewing habits are forcing studios and theaters to rethink how they've operated for decades."