Sony Bravia television owners who miss Hancock in theaters this summer, won’t have to wait for the movie to come out on DVD; Sony Pictures is releasing the summer blockbuster to television, before the DVD is released.
The movie, which features Will Smith as an unlikely superhero, will be available on home TVs in November, after the film finishes its run in theaters, but before it is released on DVD.
Consumers will be able to use their remote control to purchase the movie straight to their TVs, if they already own a Sony Bravia television with internet capabilities, a feature that kicks up the price of the television by $300.
Hancock will be distributed by Sony Pictures, a division of Sony Corporation, which also manufactures the Sony Bravia television.
Sony execs hope that the new technology will allow them to compete with Apple TV, which transfers movies and TV downloaded from the internet to the television.
Unlike Apple TV, the Sony Bravia system is intended to be seamless, since the internet and the television are combined into one device, and the movie will not have to be transferred from a computer.
It will also eliminate the streaming and downloading step which is necessary for purchasing a movie online on iTunes or viewing it using “watch instantly” feature on Netflix.
Sony will be cutting into the cable movie channel business, appealing to customers who go directly to the television to pay to see a movie, instead of renting or purchasing online.
Most importantly, Sony will be getting the movie to home audiences before the DVD is available for purchase on iTunes or released for rentals.
Hancock will function as a test for Sony. If it’s successful, it’s likely that other studios will also offer their movies to be made available on television, but pre-DVD release.
However, Sony Corporation CEO Howard Stringer told the New York Times that the company does not want to not to cut into DVD sales, especially since Sony backs Blu-ray, which beat out HD DVD to be the only provider of high-definition DVD production in the future.
Hancock is opening in theaters on July 4. Will Smith is known for his summer holiday blockbusters: both Independence Day and Men in Black were released the July 4 weekend, in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
Smith has been on the cutting edge of entertainment consumption on the internet. He was an investor in PluggedIn, a website that provides music video content and other musician information.
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