The end of movie theaters (and maybe DVDs, too)

The inevitable demise of movie theaters is only news to the industry itself, but now one of its biggest players is sounding the death knell. M. Night Shyamalan (Signs, The Sixth Sense) warned theater owners at this year's ShowEast convention that, if the studios have their way, DVDs will be released at the same time they hit the big screen. "If this thing happens, you know the majority of your theaters are closing. It's going to crush you guys." Meanwhile, the next move in DVD formatting-- Sony's Blu-ray discs and Toshiba's HD-DVD-- is already shaping up to be a "Beta vs. VHS" battle, and it's possible that neither will win, especially if Bill Gates has his way. Of course, if Hollywood just made better movies, none of this would really matter.