If the movie studios of this world made DVDs of movies available to buy at the same time as the movie is released, I’d buy every single thing I take Will to see immediately, as I’m sure millions of parents would. We’d already own Bolt and Monsters vs Aliens, instead of having to wait however many months until the DVD release.
This is a golden opportunity if they just wake up and realise that people must be downloading pirated versions because they can, and because their child wants to see the movie again already. I mean, they’ll say “pay again to see it”, but most won’t. The DVD is a better solution for repeat viewing, and believe me, kids want to see what they love again and again. And just pretending the pirated versions aren’t out there and making us wait months won’t cut it in the long run. There’s not much reason to wait anymore.
I mean, why not be innovative… make the purchase conditional on seeing it at the theatre first: ie, you can only buy the DVD if you just watched the movie on the big screen. That won’t harm box office at all, and if you’re worried about piracy, it’s already here, so why care? The kids will love you again for it.
That concludes my public service announcement.