Premier the Movie to be Officially Released Directly to Internet – Free of Charge

Paramount is about to make internet and movie history with a move that ordinary consumers like us would never have considered. I’m sure that the ability to stream movies on the internet is no news to you – either through legitimate means or shadier sites such as the notorious Peekvid. However, have you been able to watch a movie premier online, officially? I would think not – something like this has never actually been done. The movie to remedy this is Jackass, and you might think of me as one for bearing such bizarre news.

Jackass 2.5 is basically a collection of clips featuring arguably hilarious attempts at ridiculous (did I mention hilarious?) stunts – somewhat similar to an ordinary episode of Jackass. Thus, we can also safely assume that the budget would be somewhat similar to the production of an ordinary episode (make that three) of the show. A perfect candidate to test out how well this method of distribution works (due to its low budget, in case you didn’t get the hint).

To mark such an occasion, Paramount is offering – dig this – two weeks of free streaming of Jackass 2.5. After the two weeks, the movie will be available for download through Amazon and iTunes and made available in a variety of other formats, I would assume.  Um, as for how they will be able to stream such a volume of video at high quality, I’m left out of the loop.  And as for the funds, I’m guessing there will be a couple (hopefully just a couple) of advertising banners on the actual window where the video will be located.  And…commercials will be a definite turnoff.

After taking step back, I realized how huge a move this is for the entire industry – it could signify the coming of one of two sad realities: one – movies will never be successful if they are directly released to the internet, or two being cinemas and theatres will be made obsolete by the success of such a new medium.  I like the new convenience, but I’m hoping that cinemas will be able to survive such a migration (if one is made), as they’ve been taking hits over the few years with the increase in piracy, price increases, and whatnot.

The future of the world as we know it is at stake here – pretty literally.  The decision could change our lives forever.  Will movies be able to be released in high quality to the internet, or will the cinemas still be the way to go?  Discover the outcome after the premiere of Jackass 2.5.