Apple today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes Store on the same day as their DVD release. New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod with video, iPhone, Mac or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV, with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99.
This is good news, obviously, given the previous 30 day lead time. But I think for digital movies to gain any real traction they need to be less expensive: $9.99 for a new movie and $5.99 (or whatever) for catalog titles. (I'd consider $14.99 for HD movies, which you cannot purchase from iTunes.) Remember that compared to DVD movies, digital movies contain none of the extra features, plus their digital delivery means less costs to the studio. I'm sure we'll get there.
I'd also add pervasive closed captioning to my digital movie wish list, of course.
