Seems a day doesn’t go by that I don’t get a press release that trumpets a new movie will be
ON DEMAND before it hits theaters!
On the one hand, this seems like a good thing. It’s not CGI blockbusters that are debuting on VOD but, instead, the sorts of films that nowadays get lost in the multiplex madness: small, grownup dramas or comedies, films that cannot compete with $150 million movies and so don’t even get the opportunity to try. These are also films that get only limited theatrical releases, so VOD makes them available to a far larger potential audience than they’ll have in cinemas.
On the other hand, there’s still the lingering stigma of direct-to-DVD hanging over the debuting-on-demand films, the suggestion that these movies are not quite “good enough” for theaters.
What do you think? Is debut-on-VOD the new direct-to-DVD? Do you watch movies on demand? Do you watch any of those movies that debut on VOD before they’re available at a multiplex? Why, or why not?
(If you have a suggestion for a QOTD, feel free to email me. Responses to this QOTD sent by email will be ignored; please post your responses here.)
