10 Upcoming Trends That Will Change Movies Forever

4. Blockbusters Get Day-1 VOD Releases

One of the greatest things about the digital film revolution is that movies have been easier than ever to watch in the comfort of your own home. There's Netflix, which screens movies once they've hit cinemas, but there's also VOD services like iTunes, Amazon On Demand and Curzon Home Cinema, which allow people to pay a small fee (usually less than the cost of a cinema ticket) to watch a movie (usually indie or art-house fare) the same day it hits cinemas, or sometimes even before. It's a fantastic prospect for those who don't live in big cities where artier fare is screened, and the fact that most of these services allow you to rewatch the film over a given period is a huge plus as well. It's only a matter of time, then, before VOD begins taking on major Hollywood blockbusters, whereby audiences could potentially watch the latest epic action flick at home on the same day it hits cinemas, or more realistically, on a staggered release platform a week or so later. Cinema chains will heavily protest against it for sure, and the ease with which streams can be pirated is undeniable, but given the state of technology at the moment, whereby it's possible to watch HD movies on your iPad while riding the bus, studios need to cater to audiences just about any way they can. Perhaps one way of battling this issue is to charge slightly more than a cinema ticket for the at-home price, though the incentive is that you can watch it as many times as you like. It's a tough issue with no easy solution for either side, but given VOD's effectiveness as a platform, it's going to be hard for studios and cinema chains to continue arguing against it successfully.