I was just reading this column on Macworld about how it has been two months since Apple debuted movie downloads via iTunes, and how it has been too long and too much a success for other studios besides Disney to not join in. Even though I'm aware of a major reason for the slow migration by Hollywood to iTunes, I decided to do a little search in order to find any other stories on the status. Turns out, I completely missed this news on our own Apple Weblog. Looks like Fox may be the first non-Disney studio to offer its movies through iTunes, though a deal is still only in the negotiation stages. You guys know what that could mean, right? Star Wars available to download. Actually, I have a good feeling that Lucas wouldn't be into that idea.

Anyway, Fox has been in talks with Apple before, so we can't get our hopes up just yet. One thing I wonder is why Paramount and Warner Bros. haven't shown interest. Is it because they are going exclusive with XBox? However, nobody knows what that service will be like or how successful it will be. But, we do know that Disney has so far sold over half a million movies through iTunes (and earned $1 million in the first week alone), so I would think all the studios would be more interested in Apple's service.

What I also want to know is, what happened to Lionsgate in all of this?

The new iTunes movie store has been open a few weeks now, and still no other studios besides Disney are offering titles via the service. Why? Because Wal-Mart rules the world, of course. Over the summer, the retail giant gave a warning to Hollywood that it will not stand by and watch the studios concentrate on movie downloads while DVD sales are decreasing. Because Wal-Mart depends on DVDs to draw in customers and Hollywood has depended on the stores for a major share of their revenue (Wal-Mart is the leading seller of DVDs, which is Hollywood's biggest source of income), the studios would rather not offend the relationship. Sure, studios have partnered with other download services, but it wasn't until Apple decided to get in on the market with iTunes movies, that movie downloading had enough promise to scare the retail businesses.

So, what can Wal-Mart do? Well, first it can put a stronghold on the studios. After Disney's plan to partner with iTunes, Wal-Mart threatened to decrease its order of Disney DVDs, specifically the very popular seller, High School Musical. But that simply ignores the fact that downloads are the future, while also hurting their customers. So, in order to support progress and reap the rewards, it needs to get in on the download market. How? By pressuring Apple into giving the chain some of the profits. Wal-Mart is currently in discussions with Apple to start selling iTunes gift cards or coupons in stores, the proceeds of which will be divided between the companies.

My guess is that this kind of deal will keep iTunes from being able to lower their price on movies, though the Wal-Mart coupons will probably have an advantageous discount potential. So, if you want to let Wal-Mart continue bullying the world, make sure to give your lunch money to them by purchasing iTunes through their stores.

It has now been one week since Apple started selling movies through its iTunes service, and, with only one studio participating (Disney, which includes Miramax, Pixar and Touchstone), the company has already sold 125,000 downloads, earning $1 million. While this may not be much in comparison to a single movie's weekly DVD earnings, it's a pretty good debut for a product that has far fewer benefits. However, the initial numbers could be a sign of people's curiosity, with the possibility that disappointment with the service could decrease returns as time goes by. I doubt that any more studios will announce a jump-on as soon as this week, but if the movies sell another million by this time next Tuesday, the rest of Hollywood should be quick to get in on the profits.

Disney is expecting their total earnings to reach $50 million within one year.

Not only do movie pirates ruin things for the studios and the cinemas, but now they're hurting the innocent citizens with no connection to the business, too. Thanks to such heavy piracy in all of Asia, there will be no iTunes movie store for billions of people living in that part of the world. Apple, who just announced their new movie downloads Tuesday, has said their new services are not available in Asia, and there's a good chance it will not be available anytime soon, if ever. Currently the music-only iTunes software has versions in Japan and Australia, but it isn't clear whether they will be given access to the new movies.

It's important to remember that before Apple introduced iTunes to the U.S., we had a huge problem with illegal music downloading, which, subsequently, was curbed significantly after its arrival. So, for Apple (or could it be the MPAA?) to deny nations with rampant piracy a service that may actually be beneficial to them and their anti-piracy campaigns is pretty stupid.

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.