iTunes Movie Store soon?

Apple has already inked deals with some major studios for offering full-length feature films through iTunes. In recently held Lions Gate quarterly conference call, company executives revealed a digital licensing deal, indicating Apple is prepping the launch of an iTunes movie store. Lions Gate Chief Financial Officer Jon Feltheimer said that the company had digital delivery deals in place with several companies, including Apple: "We also have digital delivery deals in place with Cinema Now, MovieLink, and iTunes, with upcoming announcements with at least two more major industry players."

Currently, however, full length Lions Gate films content are not offered on iTunes--with the exception of a few ShowTime TV shows. Vancouver-based Lions Gate is a leading studio for independent films and has launched popular films such as Terminator 2, Natural Born Kilers, Van Wilder, American Psycho, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Crash.

When asked more directly about the aforementioned comments, the President of Lions Gate, Steve Beeks stated, "In terms of iTunes movie downloads, I think most likely some time before the end of the year. We know when they are planning on launching, but since they have not announced it publicly, I do not think it is our place to say anything more about that. Calendar year."

In addition, industry watchers were intrigued by the "unannounced" industry players in digital download market. Speculation about the these players has ranged from Amazon, which was suspected by many to be launching a service soon, to Wal-mart as speculated by paidContent -- Wal-mart currently is the largest DVD seller for many production studios.

by MacNN Staff