Cinema chains could 1)_______________ to show major films in a showdown with two leading

studios over home viewing.

Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox are expected soon to 2)_______________ a premium
online video-on-demand service, allowing people to watch movies on their TVs and computers a
month after they are first screened.
Cinema companies are outraged by the proposals which would greatly reduce the standard gap of
four months between cinematic openings and films 3)_____________ legally available for the small
screen. They believe it would greatly cut into profits by reducing their time window for luring
audiences into cinemas and have 4)____________ that it would cause many cinemas to close down.
Their cause is 5)_______________ by 23 of the world's most successful directors including James
Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo del Toro and Michael Mann who attacked the plans in an
open letter published in Hollywood trade magazine Variety.
Last year, the UK's three largest cinema chains announced they would refuse to screen Tim Burton's
film Alice in Wonderland 6)_________ to Disney's plan to release the movie on DVD a month
earlier than usual. Although Cineworld and Vue eventually relented, Odeon went through with the
boycott.
The prospect of this occurring on a much wider scale is looking likely, 7)_______ cinemas in the
US already cutting the number of promotional trailers they are showing for both studios.
Under the studios' scheme, which will be launched in the US, customers would pay $30 (18) to
rent a single movie digitally. 8)___________ this is a relatively high price for an individual film,
they believe it is cost-effective for families for whom the convenience of watching from the sofa
rather than the cinema would be a prime incentive. There is also speculation that Google will sign
deals with Sony and Universal to stream films through YouTube in competition with iTunes and
Amazon.
Californian satellite broadcaster DirecTV has already launched its own premium video-on-demand
service, showing the Sony-made film Just Go With It starring Jennifer Aniston just nine weeks after
its cinema debut. It made no recognisable 10) ______________ on the film's big-screen
performance, but cinemas are nevertheless concerned that in time it will be harmful to business.
Studios are pursuing the idea of video-on-demand to combat falls in DVD sales and rental revenues,
now 40 per cent lower than at their peak. It would also 11)_______________ the attraction of
pirated discs and downloads.
Not all major studios are in 12)____________of the plan. Paramount said recently that backing the
scheme could make their films less attractive to cinemas when they are deciding whether to show
competing titles instead.
The Independent, 3 May 2011

Cinema chains could refuse to show major films in a showdown with two leading studios over
home viewing.
Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox are expected to soon launch a premium online video-ondemand service, allowing people to watch movies on their TVs and computers a month after they
are first screened.
Cinema companies are outraged by the proposals, which would greatly reduce the standard gap of
four months between cinematic openings and films becoming legally available for the small screen.
They believe it would greatly cut into profits by reducing their time window for luring audiences
into cinemas and have warned that it would cause many cinemas to close down.
Their cause is supported by 23 of the world's most successful directors including James Cameron,
Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo del Toro and Michael Mann who attacked the plans in an open letter
published in Hollywood trade magazine Variety.
Last year, the UK's three largest cinema chains announced they would refuse to screen Tim Burton's
film Alice in Wonderland due to Disney's plan to release the movie on DVD a month earlier than
usual. Although Cineworld and Vue eventually relented, Odeon went through with the boycott.
The prospect of this occurring on a much wider scale is looking likely, with cinemas in the US
already cutting the number of promotional trailers they are showing for both studios.
Under the studios' scheme, which will be launched in the US, customers would pay $30 (18) to
rent a single movie digitally. Though this is a relatively high price for an individual film, they
believe it is cost-effective for families for whom the convenience of watching from the sofa rather
than the cinema would be a prime incentive. There is also speculation that Google will sign deals
with Sony and Universal to stream films through YouTube in competition with iTunes and Amazon.
Californian satellite broadcaster DirecTV has already launched its own premium video-on-demand
service, showing the Sony-made film Just Go With It starring Jennifer Aniston just nine weeks after
its cinema debut. It made no recognisable impact on the film's big-screen performance, but cinemas
are nevertheless concerned that in time it will be harmful to business.
Studios are pursuing the idea of video-on-demand to combat falls in DVD sales and rental revenues,
now 40 per cent lower than at their peak. It would also reduce the attraction of pirated discs and
downloads.
Not all major studios are in favour of the plan. Paramount said recently that backing the scheme
could make their films less attractive to cinemas when they are deciding whether to show
competing titles instead.
James Cameron, the man behind the two biggest grossing films of all time Avatar and Titanic
has been a leading critics of the plans. Leading the open letter from fellow directors, he wrote: "The
cinema experience is the wellspring of our entire business, regardless of what platforms we trickle
down to. If the exhibitors are worried, I'm worried. We should be listening to them."