Financial Times
12th October 2007
Paramount deal on digital cinema
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson
The roll-out of digital cinema across Europe came a step closer yesterday as Paramount Pictures International agreed to help fund European cinemas which are installing new generation projectors.
Hollywood studios and exhibitors have tussled over who should bear the cost of the upgrade, with cinema owners arguing that studios should pay a "virtual print fee" as it will be cheaper for them to distribute their films electronically than at a cost of $1,200 per traditional film reel.
Paramount, part of Viacom, would not disclose the terms of its deal with Arts Alliance Media, a London-based film distribution services group. AAM struck similar deals in June with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures International which will enable the conversion of 7,000 European screens over two years.
The announcement comes after news this week that Cineworld, the UK cinema operator, will install 30 3-D projectors through a deal with Real D, a 3-D technology supplier.