Morgan Freeman, first download star
Filed under: Tech Stuff, Distribution
Remember Clickstar? Adam told you about it six
months ago – it's Morgan Freeman's joint venture with Intel that proposed to make new, major films available for
download before (or, instead of) premiering in theaters. They announced this week at CES that they'll
distribute Ten Items or Less, directed by Brad Silberling and starring Freeman, online a few weeks after its theatrical release. The film was partially funded by
Intel in exchange for online distribution rights, but has yet to find a theatrical distributor. It's thought that major
studios are itchy about the idea of paying for a theatrical rollout on a film that will be available for legal download
shortly after its release. They better get used to it, because the Ten Items deal is, apparently, just the
beginning: according to Variety, Clickstar is
working on setting up deals with notable Hollywood talent, and as if to prove it, Intel CEO Paul Otellini was
joined on stage during his announcement by Tom Hanks (who has been
EVERYWHERE at CES, inexplicably) and Danny
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-06-2006 @ 11:53PM
Tyler J. Smith said...
"It's thought that major studios are itchy about the idea of paying for a theatrical rollout on a film that will be available for legal download shortly after its release."
Makes me wonder why anyone would give Uwe Boll any type of contract to make a movie then. While his movies might not be available for download a week or two after their initial release, you can certainly go to your local Wal-Mart and pick one up two months or so after their theatre debut.
I actually am hoping this works out in the long run. While at college, I don't have transportation to get to a local theatre to see a new release. I'd be stoked to download the movie and watch it from my residence hall room, possibly even stream it to my PSP (you know, for those wonderful boring lectures us Political Science majors are privy to).
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