Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced yesterday that they would be releasing several of their movies for sale online before those titles are available on DVD and Blu-ray. The first movie to be released in their "Digital HD" initiative is Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

That movie was released in theaters June 8th, 2012, and it is available now through Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, CinemaNow, Google Play, PlayStation, VUDU, Xbox Live, and YouTube. It will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 9, 2012, which is 20 days from now. That makes the first time it's available at home just 103 days after its theatrical release, which is quick, but not unheard of as the studios continually strive to release their movies to the home sooner and sooner after the theatrical release date.

At just a penny under $15, the price is attractive compared to buying the movie on disc, but physical disc releases typically come with extras and additional viewing options that aren't available in download-only purchases. For example, the Blu-ray set from Amazon is currently $24.99 and it comes with the movie on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy for easy download onto a tablet, phone, or laptop. Additionally, Blu-ray releases tend to come with quite a few extras, including featurettes, deleted scenes, and other content that adds value to the total package.

Amazon Instant Video Player

Some people just want the movie, though, and as long as you're OK with that and you can play the movie on the devices you want to play it on, downloading it today saves you money and you get to see it nearly three weeks sooner!

“With almost 800 million broadband connected devices globally, and millions of people accessing entertainment on those devices, we feel the medium’s time has come,’’ said Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “DIGITAL HD™ redefines digital ownership in a way that presents consumers with a full range of benefits in a coherent way, and it allows them the chance to build digital movie collections that can literally be carried in the palms of their hands.”

Other movies that will be released online in advance by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment include Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Watch, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. All of these are still playing in some movie theaters, so you can see how this could impact the ability of movie theaters to do business on second-run movies.

Source: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Press Release

How Will You Watch Prometheus?

Are you interested in purchasing and downloading movies instead of buying them in a physical package of discs? Does the advance date attract you at all? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below!