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While this is coming as a big surprise, it really shouldn’t. Big time blockbuster movies have a way of making their way onto the television screens of potential ticket buyers before they even make their way to the big screen. Some may not remember, but this happened not all to long ago with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. The only difference here is that Iron Man 2 is actually able to be downloaded in it’s finished “DVD quality” format whereas the X-men movie had some of it’s special effects still in their unfinished format.
So what the big question is for the movie maker is “how is this going to affect profits”, and really, it should be. I mean, what kind of an effect does being able to download a big blockbuster movie before it hits theaters have? There are two “thought routes” you can take at this point. The first being: It is going to cause the loss of lots of profits. Why pay for a movie ticket when you can sit at home and watch the movie on your couch.
Now, here is the less conventional, second “school of thought”: It will INCREASE profits. What you say? How can being able to download Iron Man 2 at home actually increase the profits made by that movie at the box office? Here is my answer:
Blockbuster movies are ALWAYS cooler on the big screen. I mean, that’s half the point of seeing it in theaters. The giant screen, the surround sound and even the experience of sitting in a theater all increase the movie goers experience from just enjoyable to making that movie worth talking about at work or school the next day.
So, here you have all these Iron Man 2 fans that now get to wet their movie appetite at home by being able to download Iron Man 2. They get to see the special effects on their home television or computer screens. They get to see the big movie stars they love playing their parts…but they are missing out on that movie theater experience that takes that movie from alright to fantastic.
So, now that they’ve seen it at home and they loved the movie, they actually WANT to go to the theater to see the movie that they now know is awesome, and watch it on the big screen so they can truly enjoy the movie the way it was supposed to be enjoyed in the first place.
Being able to download a movie at home doesn’t ruin a movies opening…at least not in my opinion. I really just think that it only serves to bring that movie more profits…provided the movie isn’t awful. If it is bad, then being able to download Iron Man 2 at home will most certainly kill profits. But if watching it at home first only serves to wet the potential movie goers appetite, then I really believe it is only going to help this movie at the box office.
