There’s a horror movie called “Red State” from Kevin Smith (yeah, the Clerks/Mallrats funny guy “Silent Bob” Kevin Smith) that’s available On Demand right now. But here’s the thing: it’s never really been in theaters. It debuted at Sundance last year, and has been shown only 22 times in select locations across North America. On September 25th it’ll be back in a few theaters, allegedly for one night only. But right now, it’s available in just about every living room in the country.
And that got me thinking, why do we even need theaters anymore? Most people have huge HD TV’s, and the option to order movies in their home whenever they like. You can eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and watch whatever you want at whatever time you like without leaving the house.
So if you were releasing a new movie, why not just eliminate the middle man? Why not sell it right to the viewer in their own home? Either On Demand, or even over the internet.
Now I’m going to take this even a little further. I think movies themselves may become obsolete. They are too long. People have too many options/choices for entertainment. I have HBO/Starz/Showtime, and all the movies they have available to me whenever I want, but all I watch are the shows. Curb, Entourage, True Blood, Dexter, Californication, Weeds, etc. It’s way easier to only commit to 30-45 minutes of TV viewing at a time.
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About Mark Vandeusen