Sean Parker’s plan to make Hollywood blockbusters available at home on the day of their cinema release ‘will expand audiences’, says Jackson

Hollywood titans Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams are reportedly among backers of a new service that would make major blockbusters available at home on the day they hit cinemas.

Lord of the Rings director Jackson has been a vocal opponent of previous attempts to consign to history the longstanding “theatrical window” that separates cinema release dates from home video debuts. But he became the most high-profile backer of Napster founder Sean Parker’s Screening Room service when he told Variety that the new technology would expand the audience for films rather than killing off cinemas.

“I had concerns about ‘DirecTV’ in 2011, because it was a concept that I believe would have led to the cannibalisation of theatrical revenues, to the ultimate detriment of the movie business,” said Jackson. “Screening Room, however, is very carefully designed to capture an audience that does not currently go to the cinema.

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“That is a critical point of difference with the DirecTV approach – and along with Screening Room’s robust anti-piracy strategy, is exactly why Screening Room has my support. Screening Room will expand the audience for a movie – not shift it from cinema to living room. It does not play off studio against theatre owner. Instead it respects both and is structured to support the long-term health of both exhibitors and distributors – resulting in greater sustainability for the wider film industry itself.”

Variety reports that Spielberg and Abrams are also shareholders in Screening Room, along with fellow luminaries Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese and Frank Marshall.

Parker’s venture would offer movies for $50 (£35) in the US, with as much as $20 going to compensate theatrical distributors for their potential losses. Subscribers would also be offered two free tickets to see their purchased movie a second time on the big screen, with the aim of boosting cinemas’ concessions trade.

Variety previously reported “serious interest” in Screening Room from studios Universal, Fox and Sony, as well as major US cinema chain AMC. The service will be available on a $150 set-top box fitted with anti-piracy technology, but Parker has yet to explain how this will work.