However, its effects will be far reaching. Distributors are the last link in the movie chain which take films to the people.
Digitalization has the potential to bring in the desired savings and drive up profits substantially.
Typically a distributor buys rights for a 'territory' and recovers costs from the exhibition of the film. The distributor buys into the risk with the producer. Today, before a film is released, no distributor knows the fate of the movie. Copies are made based on a guesstimate and the stakes are high. The copies are sent to various distributors in the country, who in turn rent them out to theatre owners.