The studio will launch the effort September 18 by releasing Prometheus – Fox‘s biggest title so far this year — three weeks ahead of DVD and Blu-ray, and VOD. There’ll also be more than 600 films offered under the program branded Digital HD. The big change, though, is that Fox now plans to offer movies ahead of traditional home video, in most cases by about two weeks. It will do that with upcoming releases including Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Watch, and Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. Amazon, CinemaNow (Best Buy), iTunes, PlayStation, VUDU (Walmart), and Xbox are on board to sell the films — likely for just under $15. That would represent a discount from previous movie downloads, which typically sold for about $20.
In addition to being able to download movies, consumers will have streaming rights. But it could be complicated: Walmart is the only retailer on the list that works with the industry’s UltraViolet streaming initiative. Its customers can also stream just from VUDU. Those who buy movies from iTunes would stream from Apple’s iCloud while Amazon customers would use its platform. Fox is also taking the Digital HD initiative to more than 50 countries including Germany, Spain, Australia, Japan, France, Switzerland, and Greece. Exhibitors are said to have vetted the Digital HD plan without objection: The digital downloads would be offered after the movies have competed their runs in theaters. That period typically lasts three months.


$15 for HD on iTunes. Prometheus? Sold. As someone who once owned a huge DVD library and now transitioned to a digital collection this couldn’t make me happier.
Hey Mikey45.
Are you kidding? $15 bucks to watch that movie…. “”how many times?”
The only film I’d pay $15 bucks to download would have to be pretty amazing. Reason is I’d most likely watch it more than twice. Thats if I even found the time.
@Bobby – no I’m not kidding. I buy my movies on iTunes. The other studios sell their HD movies for $20. Prometheus will be $15. So well me what there is not to like about this? Also I know it’s not cool to like ANYTHING on this site but I was a fan of Prometheus and plan on watching it well over 2 times. Thanks.
Well.. Prometheus is a movie you probably should watch more than once in order to fully understand it. I’d say $15 ain’t bad at all.
FINALLY!! — someone stepped up to do this. What movies will be in the 600?
This differs from Sony and Lionsgate doing the same exact thing for nearly a year how?
The strategy isn’t new, just a different application. Other studios have released Blu-ray titles in advance of DVD releases for years. Good on Fox for trying something – and maintaining the same margin per title excluding mastering, replication and distribution costs for physical media.
Maybe, just maybe, in the case of Fox, sales of physical media are dropping because they have a terrible line-up, and not because of a trend or market shift.
Prometheus will probably be available on Itunes for 17-20 dollars. Itunes typically releases popular films a week or two before it’s official release date for purchase. They did that for Battleship and 21 Jump Street.
However, I am eager to watch Prometheus so I will be willing to pay 20 dollars to watch it through itunes.
wow…. i think it will be great drama.. for boys