Theater on-demand

A Wired plug on my Google Homepage caught my attention today: Movies on demand, at the Movies.

The longer, real title “Movie Firms Working on Digital Film System” is far more accurate, but the concept is still something that realistically should have been set up years ago.

[Film studios] are working on a new digital film delivery system that, if successful, could give theater operators the flexibility to put a popular movie on an extra screen as quickly as the demand for it arises. At the same time, theater operators could boot out a surprise stinker and even book in for a day or two an art-house film with a small but devoted audience.

Theaters have had trouble in recent years getting people to actually show up at the screen to watch new movies. Rampant piracy and the advent of affordable home-theater setups, including wide screen TVs, have put a real damper on the allure of going out to the “big screen.”

I remember hearing a figure that said theaters spend an average of $13 in advertising per customer that sits in a chair. That’s not a great ratio. I also probably remembered it wrong, but I think I’m in the right ballpark.

A big step in filling that gap would be the ability to modulate screenings for demand. How many times do theaters screen a movie to one or two people, while they tell dozens that another movie is full?

Even better would be the ability to show any old movie on-the-fly, but I’m not sure how practical that is. In any case, this sounds like a cool system: good for consumers, good for theaters.