Toho to stream films in Japan

How interesting that this news articles comes out just as I was chronicling Toho's struggle during the 1970's (seen here).

Apparently Toho Studios is struggling again in the theater screen medium, this time due to a reduction in movie attendees within Japan.

So much so that box office revenue is down 20% when compared to last year.

20% is a huge drop, and Toho is not taking this sitting down.

So they're teaming up with several other partners (ad shop Dentsu and the NTV, TBS and Fuji TV networks) to help create a service that will stream their films and other Japanese films.

Such a service will be specifically aimed towards smartphones, and will be paid for through the use of debit/credit cards.

Hmm...I don't know if they see this outright...but wouldn't this further deplete the number of people attending the movie theater? Wouldn't they want the opposite if they're trying to bring attendance up?

In any case here's the article for further info:

Variety.com: Toho to stream films in Japan