LOS ANGELES

SOMETIME in the next few months, there is likely to be an explosion in the movie business. The question is which studio will detonate the bomb.

Tension between studios and theater owners has been simmeringa long time, but it intensified in May, when the Federal Communications Commission issued what appeared on the surface to be an arcane ruling. After two years of prodding from Hollywood, the F.C.C. agreed to let movie studios activate technology to prevent films sold through video-on-demand systems from being copied.

Ho-hum? Hardly. The ruling gave studios the ability to pursue a new business  so-called premium V.O.D.  that may be the industry’s best hope of restoring itself to health, now that the bottom has fallen out of the DVD market.

Right now, theaters get an exclusive period  120 days, on average  to serve up new movies. Then the releases appear on television video-on-demand services at a price of about $4.99. Armed with the new copy-blocking technology, studios want to offer new movies on video-on-demand services about 45 days after they arrive in theaters, for a premium price of $24.99.