CinemaNow burns Lionsgate’s Haunting

OCT. 25 | Lionsgate’s An American Haunting, released on DVD Tuesday, got a day-and-date release as a download-to-burn film on CinemaNow, the two companies announced Wednesday.

Lionsgate will make new releases available as a burnable download through the service going forward and will add higher-profile catalog films Reservoir Dogs and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder.

Lionsgate, which owns a stake in CinemaNow, previously made some of its catalog films available for download-to-burn on the site when it launched burning this summer. Universal Studios Home Entertainment was the first studio to release titles simultaneously on DVD and for download-to-burn, beginning with last month’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Burnable downloads are seen as key to driving download growth. CinemaNow is the only movie download service that allows DVD burning.

Other download services are waiting for the studios and consumer electronic companies to finalize changes to CSS, the copyright system for commercially produced DVDs, that would permit burning. CinemaNow uses proprietary digital rights management and anti-ripping technology called FluxDVD.

“Consumers clearly prefer the burn-to-DVD option,” CinemaNow president Bruce Eisen said. “We are pleased that Lionsgate and other studios have embraced this service and are offering their films on a day-and-date basis with the general DVD release.”

To promote the move, CinemaNow has made An American Haunting available for $9.99 for the first week. Burnable downloads include extras available on the DVD and printable DVD artwork.

CinemaNow offers download-to-burn on films from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment, though those studios don’t yet offer day-and-date new releases for burning.

Lionsgate’s new releases were previously available on CinemaNow day-and-date as a permanent download.