Amazon's Next Big Move

Amazon's pilot series won big at the
Golden Globes - taking home both
Best Series and Best Actor (Jeffrey Tambor)

After the wild success of its first self-produced TV show, Transparent, it's no suprise that Amazon would want to keep that fame coming. That's why earlier this week, Amazon Studios announced its next big venture: the film industry. Starting this year, it "will produce and acquire original movies for theatrical release and early-window distribution on Amazon Prime Instant Video." The online retail giant expects to produce around 12 movies per year that will first premier in theaters nation-wide and then be accessible through Prime Instant Video only four to eight weeks later. This is a huge business move for Amazon - not only will it bring in millions from the movies themselves, but it is expected to drastically increase Prime subscriptions (because of the early online releases). On top of that, it keeps Amazon caught up with Netflix, who announced last September its plan to release several new movies in IMAX and on Netflix, simultaneously.

Albeit a great idea to the producer and the consumer (who wants to wait 16 and a half weeks to buy it on DVD, right?), it spells trouble for the movie theater chains involved. Early online releases greatly decrease the theatrical window (time in which a movie is solely dedicated to the theaters). When this happens, companies like AMC and Regal Entertainment earn a substantially smaller profit, which obviously makes them weary of agreeing to show movies that this apply to.

If Amazon, and Netflix for that matter, can manage to get the approval of major movie theater chains for their projects, this could be a big turning point in how the film industry functions. Since the introduction of the theatrical window concept in the 80s, the length (of the window) has been slowly, but steadily, decreasing. With Amazon's plan cutting it by about 2/3 and Netflix essentially eradicating it, things aren't very appealing to the movie theaters. But, if they do manage to strike a deal, could web-based production companies (such as these two) be the new face of cinema? Or will the necessity of the theatrical window conquer, leaving Amazon and Netflix in a niche production market?