Building on the successes of exclusive TV shows like Transparent, Amazon has announced plans to "produce and acquire original movies."
According to a press release, the studio plans to create roughly 12 movies a year, which will premiere in theaters before arriving on Amazon's Instant Video service. The movies will come with a dramatically shortened release window; while conventional theatrical movies often take as much as a year to appear on a streaming video service, Amazon plans to make its movies available just four to eight weeks after they premiere in theaters.
"Not only will we bring Prime Instant Video customers exciting, unique, and exclusive films soon after a movie's theatrical run, but we hope this program will also benefit filmmakers, who too often struggle to mount fresh and daring stories that deserve an audience," said Amazon vice president Roy Price in a statement.
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Last year, Amazon irked theater owners when it announced that a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would arrive on its Instant Video service at the same time as the movie's premiere in IMAX theaters.
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