• Reuters, Monday, April 3, 2006 10:45 AM

Movielink and CinemaNow, two online movie services founded by major Hollywood studios, will begin selling major films like " Brokeback Mountain," which was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, the same day the DVD's are released in stores. Movielink has signed download deals with six major studios: Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., MGM-Paramount Pictures, which are the co-owners of Movielink, as well as Twentieth Century Fox. CinemaNow has signed Sony, MGM and LionsGate Entertainment Corp., the studio that produced "Crash," winner of Best Picture. This is a massive step forward for digital delivery, which will now surely overtake DVD sales in the next three to five years. Until now, both services only offered new release movie downloads for a rental period. This week, Movielink will start selling copies of "Brokeback," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "King Kong" online. More studio signings are said to be in the works, and each of the above mentioned studios are also in talks with other online distributors. Movielink's prices will fall between $20 and $30, while CinemaNow's will be lower, between $10 and $20.

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