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Big theater chains team up against Netflix's first movie
Unsurprisingly, there's one group that's not at all excited to hear Netflix and IMAX are arranging for the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel to hit theaters and streaming at the same time: movie theater owners. According to the LA Times, Regal, AMC, Carmike and Cinemark have all stated they don't plan to screen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend on their IMAX screens when it arrives next year, while Variety notes Canada's Cineplex and Europe's Cineworld are also staying away from the flick. The studios blocked a planned experiment to sell Tower Heist viewing for $60 a pop (honestly, they saved everyone there) back in 2011, but it seems doubtful they'll be able to intimidate Netflix into backing down.
Netflix and IMAX will get 'Crouching Tiger 2' on the same day
Netflix's tight relationship with The Weinstein Company has scored another win, and the streaming service's first big movie debut -- but definitely not its last. The two revealed tonight that next year when the sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon arrives in theaters, it will also be available streaming on Netflix at the same time. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend also shares a writer, John Fusco, with another Weinstein/Netflix team-up, the Marco Polo series that's arriving next year. So far, studio efforts at sending movies home day-and-date with their theater release like this year's Snowpiercer have centered around VOD, but Netflix subscribers worldwide (the movie is being shot in English) are getting this flick at no extra cost. Back in 2011, Universal wanted to charge viewers $60 to watch Tower Heist at home instead of the theater, weeks after it debuted -- this seems like a slightly better value.
