Distribution - Why not use digital files rather than maually send the reels to all the cinemas?

The first question to ask when speculating about the future of cinema and home video is what the studios actually want. The simple answer to this question is that they want to have complete control over their multi-million dollar assets, including the distribution of their films. The coming advent of digital cinema will help in this regard, since studios will be able to send their films to theatres as data instead of as a collection of unwieldy film reels. With their films converted entirely into digital form, the film studios would be able to bypass the network of distributors that has outlived its usefulness, as well as local video rental outlets, and sell their products directly to Jack and Jill Videophile. Region Coding would no longer be necessary as it would be financially possible to distribute films so that they have the same release date the world over, as opposed to the current staggered schedules that exist now. Without the need for local distributors, all of the revenue earned from the sales of a film would go straight to the studio that made it in the first place. In this sense, it is a win-win situation for the consumer and the film studio, with the only losers being the middlemen that were previously integral to film and home video distribution.

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