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What's your limit?

Kim Hollis: Arbitrage became the biggest opener ever with a simultaneous video-on-demand release, earning $2 million. This leads to a larger question. What is the tipping point on price where you would prefer to watch a title at home rather than in theaters? Also, what sorts of films are you more inclined to want to watch in theaters independent of price?

Bruce Hall: Since I have multiple home theater setups, I would always prefer to watch a film at home. I will pass up the sticky floors, whiny children, smart ass teenagers and high concession prices every single time. Ignoring the hypothetical logistics of why such a pricing model would never work, if I could watch The Dark Knight Rises on opening night at home on my big screen for the same cost, I absolutely would. I am just more into the story than the spectacle of the cinema experience, and I get more personal enjoyment from watching films in the comfort of my home than in a bustling theater.

For the record, I'd watch Skyfall opening night on a 15 inch black and white screen if I could do it for five bucks.

Samuel Hoelker: I'm surprised by this result, mostly because no customer at my theatre this weekend could pronounce it correctly, and watching it VOD would prevent the embarrassment of asking for a ticket to "Ar-burr-terr-age." Then again, I think the target audience for this skews older (much like last year's success Margin Call), which is not exactly the same age range as on-demand.

Jason Barney: As far as budgeting for movies at the theater, I am already making those choices. I would certainly see more films on the big screen if it didn't cost $9 per person to go. We actually try to go after we have eaten to avoid having to buy popcorn and soda. Throw in those, and sometimes it is impossible to leave a movie without having spent $30 on one film, and that is just not worth it. Just take a look at the price of gas or food, and the movie is going to get skipped. That said, I went to the movies a lot this summer, but each time it was a pretty economical choice. At the drive-in theater you get to watch two for one. Afternoon showings are cheaper. Movies are about as expensive as they can be without me starting to go less. Price is one of the reasons I avoid 3D films.

Reagen Sulewski: Factoring in the price of a babysitter and the logistics of actually getting out to a theater, I think I'm right there with the "Same price? Okay" people. Same-day VOD is kind of the jetpacks/flying cars of the cinephile's world - this is what the future feels like.

Felix Quinonez: I think if all movies were released the same day for VOD, I might never go to the theater. The higher ticket price doesn't seem like a big deal to me because you can invite a few friends over and split the cost. At the movies you each wind up paying overpriced tickets and the even more overpriced concession items. At home you can just order a pizza or something and have a couple of beers and split the cost on everything. It seems like it evens out and instead of dealing with annoying kids and people who text during the movie you're with friends who you can tell to shut up or even pause the movie. So yeah, I'm all for VOD.

I think there are very few movies that I would HAVE to see in theaters if this option was available. I guess maybe a movie like Avatar where the 3D and visuals were pretty much the only thing I liked about that movie. But I mostly don't care about the huge screen and surround sound stuff.

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