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For years, we've heard that the box office of tomorrow will be online. Well, dear MatchFlickers, that box office is here today, more or less. It's called CinemaNow.Com.
This web site and its competitors, and not your local multiplex, reflect the future of the motion picture box office .
Last month's innovation is not that Cinema Now allows movie lovers to download full-length motion pictures from the Internet. Legally and illegally, people have been doing that for years. What makes Cinema Now revolutionary is that the company's new service allows customers to download feature length motion pictures from the Internet, then copy them to a DVD that can be played on any standard DVD player.
Of the new, break-through service, Curt Mavis, Cinema Now's chief executive, told a press conference, "This is the most important product that we've had since we started in 1999. Our customers have been asking for a long time to be able to burn disks, and they want to play them on their own DVD players."
A separate site run by Cinema Now has been offering a Burn to DVD download option for adult films since May. But this is a first for Hollywood movies bought and distributed over the Internet.
The online movie provider's Burn to DVD service debuted on July 19 with more than 100 veteran titles, including SCENT OF A WOMAN, ABOUT A BOY, BARBERSHOP, among 
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many others.
As the Burn to DVD service premiered, Curt Mavis said, "Our customers will experience a true innovation in home entertainment, the ability to obtain a DVD in the comfort of their living room."
Why did it take so long for this service to become available?
Previously, studios have been hesitant to offer movies for at-home DVD duplication because of piracy fears. Apparently the development of more secure technology has eased, if not eliminated, those concerns. Mavis added, "The studios were rigorous in their need to have very strong encryption."
Just for openers, Walt Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, and the Sundance Channel have already jumped aboard the Cinema Now bandwagon. Other Hollywood heavyweights are expected to fall in line shortly.
Cinema Now sells mainstream features starting at $8.99. The Burn to DVD offerings include all of the attractions of their retail store-purchased counterpart, including boosted sound settings, interactive menus, and all special features. For now, however, once a DVD copy is burned, its quality will be slightly lower than its store-bought version.
As of today, Cinema Now Is licensed to distribute only a small number of older films and no first-run features. However, more and newer movies will be 
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offered once the studios gain confidence in the system's anti-piracy security. The limited offerings and lack of new titles will most likely keep Cinema Now and the other online distributors behind traditional DVD retailers for the time being. But Curt Mavis, and others, believe it's only a matter of time before online video-on-demand companies are offering an incomparable selection of first-run and older motion pictures.
Says Benjamin Feingold, President of Sony's home entertainment division, of the limited titles available, "It's a test of the distribution and the security architecture. I expect more films to be offered if users find the system easy to use and if the copy-protection is successful at thwarting pirates."
Cinema Now competitor Movielink has already announced that it will be offering a Burn to DVD service. The company has not said when the service will begin, but industry pundits expect Movielink to go head-to-head with Cinema Now before the year ends.
So, what are you waiting for, MatchFlickers? You can enjoy the Box Office of Tomorrow, today. Registration is fast and free. Surf on over to CinemaNow.Com. Be a trail blazer. Let your next great movie date take place anywhere you can use a DVD player, and enjoy the experience without pricey parking, $5. Cokes, cell phone chat, and twenty minutes of mood-breaking commercials.
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| The Business of Show |
Every other Friday
Does advertising, public taste, or overindulged stars determine a movie's box office fate? Christoper Stone explores what's going on behind the box office.
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| Christopher Stone |
Christopher Stone is the author of the international best seller Re-Creating Your Self. With Mary Sheldon, he co-authored three highly successful hardcover books of guided meditations.
He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
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If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to Christopher Stone by clicking here.
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