March 22, 2016 3:00pm by David Farrar

Screening Room sounds good

James Cameron and producer Jon Landau have announced they are against a new movie streaming service Screening Room.

Supported by Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg, the service would allow people to watch movies at home the same day they are released at the cinema.

Landau told Variety that he and Cameron, both best known for Titanic and Avatar, believe that the initial release of films should take place only in theatres.

“We know that this proposal is at the early stage and we have an obligation to speak out publicly against it,” Landau said, adding, “Both Jim and I remain committed to the sanctity of the in-theater experience,”.

The days when studios can unilaterally decide how and when people see movies are gone.

Once upon a time yes they could decide theatres only for six months, then allow it to be rented in video stories, then allow sales, then allow it on Pay TV and finally allow it on free to air TV.

But people will no longer wait years, months or even weeks to see it the way they want to see it. They are happy to pay for it, but want to decide where and when.

So allowing people to watch movies at home of the day of release is a great idea. It should cost more than watching it a month or two later – but people will pay for getting to see it on release day.

As more and more people have home theatres, this will be an attractive service.

It is understood Screening Room, founded by Napster and Facebook’s Sean Parker, would charge about US$50 (about NZ$74) per new release, and viewers would have 48-hours to watch the film at home. A high percentage of the payment would go to studios and theatres, as much as $20 per film

$75 for half a dozen to watch it at home – sounds good.