Intel and Revelations Entertainment — actor Morgan Freeman’s motion picture production company — have formed a new venture aimed at distributing movies over the Internet on the same day they open in movie theaters.
The new company, called ClickStar, is taking on an unfamiliar and potentially controversial role in Hollywood circles that have contended that online distribution hurts DVD sales. Most online movie ventures, such as Movielink and CinemaNow, are allowed to distribute films only after they have been in home video circulation for up to several months.
However, Intel and Revelations said that consumers have shown they want to download films earlier and that traditional DVD releases aren’t meeting that demand.
For more than six years, Intel has worked with Revelations Entertainment, initially on technology for creating special effects. Intel declined to say how much it was investing in ClickStar.
The company is expected to begin operation next year. It does not consider itself a direct competitor to such online movie rental services as Movielink and CinemaNow, which make films available either during the VOD window or after they go to sell-through. Consumers will be able to access ClickStar from a variety of digital sources as well as play the content on laptops, PDAs and other mobile devices.