Premium At-Home Theatrical Viewing Options Being Considered

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The folks out at Sony, Disney, and Warner Brothers are posing a question to movie viewers everywhere, and somehow, I don’t think they’ll like the answer much. The question is, “Will you pay three to four times what you’re paying for a movie ticket if you can sit and watch said movie at your house?”.

The three in question are having their talks with a variety of providers, including Comcast’s In-Demand arm as well as Microsoft for Xbox 360 users, to see about getting the very latest in content streaming to various providers just after it leaves the theaters.? Here’s a breakdown of how it’s going by studio so far.

Sony: Tried it with Hancock in 2008 and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 2009. No further word about releases via the Bravia television have been yet announced.

Warner: Tests of such a service look to begin later this year, and expected costs per viewing will be $20 to $30.

Disney: Disney is already up to its eyes in rage from the theater owners, as Disney’s been pushing the boundaries of theater release to home video in all its many forms for a while now. Normally theater owners get 120 days of “exclusivity” to show a movie, but Disney’s been hot to push that back for some time now.

Don’t get me wrong here–I love home theater and happen to think of it as the future of entertainment. But charging that kind of money to trim a bit of wait between theater release and home video?? Definitely not something I’d be in line for.