e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[culater33]

Digital Entertainment Post-Napster: Movies

By Thomas Bass November 2002

DivX makes downloading movies easy. Should Hollywood be nervous?

Last summer’s first two blockbuster films, Spider-Man and Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, played on more than 3,000 movie screens and grossed more than $100 million in their opening weeks. Impressive numbers. But not as impressive as the numbers generated by these movies’ actual opening nights.


A bootlegged copy of Spider-Man appeared on the Internet the day before the movie premiered in theaters. A copy of Attack of the Clones—as if to mock its title—was widely available a week before that movie’s scheduled release. From that virtual opening, which was accessible to half a billion people on their home computers, its Hollywood producers grossed exactly $0.
>> Join a discussion about this story.


The rest of this 2,081-word article (You've read 103 words so far)is only available to Technology Review subscribers.

If you are not a Technology Review subscriber, its quick and easy to subscribe.

To read this article:

If you are a subscriber to Technology Review, please log in.
You can buy this article for $4.50 as a PDF.
At all times, there are many free Technology Review articles to read. Check out the home page to find out more.

Remember, Technology Review subscribers receive unlimited free access to all Articles and Special Editions.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/bass1102.asp
culater