The Los Angeles Times reports that Paramount Pictures is the first major Hollywood studio to ditch 35mm film and go all-digital for United States theatre releases, with The Wolf of Wall Street being shipped to theatres in digital format only. Sorry film fans, it sounds like that’s a wrap.
The LA Times‘ report credits unnamed inside sources with the scoop, saying that Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues was the last movie Paramount shipped to theatres in both film and digital formats. So far, the studio has not confirmed the report, which says that traditional film will still be used in export markets like Latin America.
While 35mm film has been the cinema standard for over a century, industry watchers have known since at least 2011 that the jump to digital was inevitable. The digital format allows high-tech 3D effects (and the boosted ticket prices that go with them), and at under $US100 a piece, digital copies are much cheaper to provide to theatres compared to as much as $US2000 per film print. The digital switch is also necessary to enable distributors to LA Times via The Verge]
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