Download X-Men The Last Stand on Fox site!

[Advanced Dark]

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Fox sites to sell movies, shows for download
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By ANICK JESDANUN | Associated Press
August 14, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) - The new "X-Men" movie and television shows like "24" are coming to a computer near you.

Fox will tap into a platform now used to sell video games and let visitors buy movies and television shows that they can download for computer playback and transfer to devices running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Player technology.

Movies available in October include "X-Men: The Last Stand," "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties," "The Omen" and "Thank You for Smoking." Availability through Fox's Direct2Drive service will be concurrent with the DVD release.

Also, Direct2Drive will make available Fox's "24" and "Prison Break" and FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" within 24 hours of each episode's broadcast.

Other movies and shows will be added later.

Movies will sell for about $20 and TV shows for $1.99 an episode.

Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store already sells many television shows, including "24" and others from Fox, for $1.99 apiece, but those can only be played on the company's market-leading iPod devices.

The movies and TV shows from Twentieth Century Fox will carry copy protection, limiting playback to two Windows computers, each supporting one portable device. Sales will be limited to the United States.

Direct2Drive is a service offered by IGN Entertainment Inc., which Fox's parent, News Corp., bought last year for $650 million (?508.81 million).

Over the next year, video sales will come to other Fox sites as well, including MySpace.com, the popular online hangout that is now second only to Yahoo Inc. in U.S. page views.

Mickie Rosen, general manager for entertainment at Fox Interactive Media, said each site will likely use the Direct2Drive technology but offer a different user experience and different movies and shows, the offerings tailored to the site's audience.

Earlier this year, Fox made available free and for-sale downloads of "24" on MySpace. It also sold about 200,000 audio and video clips of performances at AmericanIdol.com.

 

[The Original Bamfer]

Nice find! That's a cool idea, really.

 

[TrailerCues]

It was going to happen eventually. Next up Movies on DVD same time as Theater

 

[Psionic Force]

$20 for the movie just to download it from their site? The dvd will be cheaper at the store ...

 

[TrailerCues]

The dvd will be cheaper at the store ...

Only the first week

 

[Psionic Force]

Only the first week

That is when I will be getting it! The first day!!!

 

[Avalanche]

Just read an article which included this on The Times website. Youtube are also aggressively competing to get music studios to release videos for singles on Youtube. They hope to have every music video ever made on the site before long, all free to site visitors.

 

[danoyse]

I just read another article that Amazon.com is planning a service where you can have movies downloaded to your computer as well, sometime in the near future.

 

[TrailerCues]

Times are changing

 

[Advanced Dark]

Yep this is gonna be cool. To eliminate piracy though many studios are pushing for simultaneus release in theatres and on video. Cuts the advertising in half and the downloads cut out the retailers cut. It winds up actually making them more money than the double dip.

 

[BMM]

I was wondering when this was going to happen. If done properly, studios stand to make a lot of money doing this. I hope that the internet downloads aren't relegated to the ridiculously small sizes maintained by itunes. If I am going to be paying for a movie, it had better be in high quality and at a good size.

 

[Advanced Dark]

Edit: Wrong thread.

 

[danoyse]

I was wondering when this was going to happen. If done properly, studios stand to make a lot of money doing this. I hope that the internet downloads aren't relegated to the ridiculously small sizes maintained by itunes. If I am going to be paying for a movie, it had better be in high quality and at a good size.

I think you'll really start seeing it within the next year or so (I'm guessing here). The success of the downloable video content on iTunes has really put it on the fast track.

It's been interesting to read the progress. According to an article I read recently, the 12-24 age group, have indicated they'd rather download a movie rather than go to a theater (which I think is sad). It may even make that DVD release window even smaller--studios are making the case that they should be available to download within days of the theatrical release.

But at the same time, they've been unhappy with the media that they watch it on...video iPods are too small, the video service on cell phones isn't very good, etc.

There's also some concern that the mobile age we're will go bust like the .com industry did a few years ago. Too much too soon. Most marketing research has shown that people don't all want that much extra content on their cell phones.

Downloading is the logical next step, it will be interesting to see how it develops.

 

[Neto Magnus]

I don't see how anyone in their right mind would download a movie for $20 when they can just dl it now for free.

Now I don't really condone bootlegging but if it's from a major Hollywood studio, I'm sure they won't miss the profits. I however always pay to see or hear Independent films and music because they need the support.

But I do see how legal downloads are becoming the next step. Pretty soon there will come a time when a person never has to leave the house. Except maybe to buy cigerettes.

 

[danoyse]

I don't see how anyone in their right mind would download a movie for $20 when they can just dl it now for free.

Now I don't really condone bootlegging but if it's from a major Hollywood studio, I'm sure they won't miss the profits. I however always pay to see or hear Independent films and music because they need the support.

But I do see how legal downloads are becoming the next step. Pretty soon there will come a time when a person never has to leave the house. Except maybe to buy cigerettes.

Well, the quality of a legal download vs. an illegal download is certain to be better. And not everyone knows where to download movies.

Makes sense for a studio...if the movies are going to be downloaded, they may as well make them available through them so they can make a profit off it as well.

 

[Psionic Force]

Well, the quality of a legal download vs. an illegal download is certain to be better.

Not necessarily ....

 

[Iceman]

Yep this is gonna be cool. To eliminate piracy though many studios are pushing for simultaneus release in theatres and on video. Cuts the advertising in half and the downloads cut out the retailers cut. It winds up actually making them more money than the double dip.

Very interesting (as is the article). I wonder if it would work. It could change a lot of people's viewing habits.