Movies show up in theaters, airlines, video stores and pay-per-view, subscription and free television through a system known as release windows, which open and close at different times for different films.

After appearing on video-on-demand menus for three months, for instance, a movie may disappear for a year or more while it runs on subscription cable and network TV. Only when it has aged into what's called a "library" film can a typical mainstream movie be offered indefinitely.

"There's an established distribution scheme for movies which is going to take some time to break through," said Curt Marvis of CinemaNow. "This has traditionally been the case. ...When home video materialized, it wasn't as if all the big movies were suddenly available on video."

As studios adjust to changing customer demands and the industry's roadblocks to electronic distribution crumble, "This whole windowing process may shift over time," Marvis said.

Movie-industry impediments to widespread electronic distribution are going to crumble, said Marvis.

"People are starting to wake up and say maybe we should take this seriously, because this is another way to make money. And in the end that's what everybody is interested in."