A Landmark Microsoft Deal
George Lucas wanted to show Episode II on 3,000 digital projectors. Analysts projected there would be 1,000 by last year. They were both off: just 74 digital projectors are in use in the US today.
On Thursday, Microsoft announced that number will increase. The software company has partnered with Landmark Theatres to equip 177 screens with a digital projection system. The Digital Cinema Solutions system, at $70,000 per unit, costs twice as much as a mechanical projector but less than half the price of a DLP machine.
The interesting part about this deal is that it’s being pitched as a boon for independent filmmakers, who have embraced Mini-DV and other digital technologies due to their low cost. Theoretically, the upgrade means an all-digital pipeline for exhibition in all 53 Landmark theaters will be available next year to those artists who can’t pay the $1,500+ per print needed for 35mm reels…provided the filmmakers use Microsoft’s Windows Media Services 9, of course.
I’ve long been intrigued with the idea of digital projectors, particularly in small markets. When each theater doesn’t have to first recoup two grand for the cost of prints, it means theaters have more options and can show a greater variety of films.
That won’t happen immediately — all the Landmark theaters I’ve been to are in cities of at least a million — but I will be watching this development very closely.