Steven Soderbergh is going to make six movies that will be released to theaters, on DVD, pay-per-view and satellite TV all at the same time.

http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.d ... &ck=&ch=en

If we can get a few more directors to sign on, that might actually help show what people's viewing preference is. Soderbergh's movies tend to be more cerebral or human dramas. They play nearly as well on home viewing as they do in the theaters. Seeing how a sci-fi movie does with that deal would be a good countertest.

Thats very cool...! Interesting to see what venue is the most popular in terms of ratings/$$.

Soderbergh is talented...I loved Traffic...brilliant movie.

Not sure I agree with this. Even as someone who only rarely sees movies in theaters these days (maybe 4-6 times a year), I prefer to see movies released in theaters and then subsequently released for home viewership. And as far as gauging a movie's popularity is concerned, I think the proactive element of actually going out and buying a movie ticket is as strong an indication of a movie's appeal as anything else. It's a lot simpler to order up a movie for home viewing and people probably often do so with a more indifferent attitude.