Amazon wants to make its own films to release in cinemas and online

Amazon is starting to make a name for itself by producing quality original programming, and now the company has announced that it’s expanding its slate of video content by releasing twelve features films every year.

Amazon’s Original Movies will initially debut in cinemas before migrating over to Prime Instant Video six to eight weeks later, significantly shortening the time it takes for films to be available (legally) at home. Sadly the only country specifically mentioned to be enjoying this short release schedule is the US, so it’ll be interesting to see how the films are released internationally.

Cinema distribution could prove to be tricky, but it makes sense that Amazon would want the online release to hit every country at once. Currently only five countries can access Prime Instant Video, but that could well change in the future.

12 films a year is an awful lot to get through, and I can’t help but wonder if Amazon is promising more than it can take on. Then again it wouldn’t make any sense for the company to rush head on without doing a trial run first. The first film is due to start production later this year, so we’ll just have to wait and see how that goes to be sure.

Featured image: Cinema Odeon Firenze by sailko via Wikimedia Commons. (Modified)