Sony Will Release Theatrical Movies Through IMAX’s Home Rental Platform

New and classic titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment will play on IMAX Enhanced

Sony will distribute new releases and classic library titles via IMAX’s at-home platform, IMAX Enhanced, over the next two years. This will include all of Sony’s planned theatrical releases over the next two years, as well as “hundreds” of others.

“Today’s announcement represents the latest milestone for IMAX Enhanced as Sony Pictures Entertainment, IMAX and DTS continue to work hand in hand to redefine high-quality at-home entertainment,” said IMAX CFO Patrick McClymont.

Current Sony titles available through IMAX Enhanced include Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Venom, and Bad Boys for Life.

IMAX Enhanced Lowdown

IMAX Enhanced is a relatively new venture between IMAX, DTS, and various studios including Sony and Paramount. Announced in the fall of 2018, the service offers at-home playback of 4K HDR video and state-of-the-art audio playback, both digitally remastered with IMAX and DTS technologies.

IMAX Enhanced doesn’t run its own streaming service, but rather offers specific releases through various providers (in the U.S., it’s FandangoNOW). It’s also still limited in its reach in that only certain devices will be able to maximize the full quality of the playback.

Although, 4K video is quickly becoming more commonplace. Popular services like Netflix are now offering subscription options that include such high-resolution playback. With the further evolutions in at-home technology and the prolonged theater closures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, IMAX Enhanced and other similar products could see a surge in market saturation.

Pete Wood, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Senior VP of New Digital Distribution, agrees with such a prediction.

“The success that SPE has enjoyed in collaborating with IMAX and DTS has inspired the decision to significantly increase our commitment and volume of content to meet the growing demand for IMAX Enhanced,” Wood said.

Streaming in the Time of a Pandemic

Sony and IMAX’s announcement doesn’t clarify whether it will wholly abandon the theatrical release window with its Enhanced releases. It also doesn’t clarify whether the studio is taking a VOD-only approach from now on, especially now that this theatrical-quality at-home option is available to consumers. But it is peculiar timing, what with this press release coming on the heels of Comcast’s boat-rocking announcement last week.

We’ haven’t heard any scathing, Sony-specific derisions from exhibitors yet, which suggests that said studio may be going about this distribution shift with a more tactful approach. However – with theater chains nearing bankruptcy and distributors scrambling to readjust their schedules – the skeptic in me advises against holding out hope that multi-billion dollar corporations will champion the storied mode of theatrical exhibition over their bottom-line profits.

It’s looking like this coronavirus pandemic could lead to a home entertainment revolution – or take-over, depending on where your allegiances lie.

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