Movie Released on Phone

If you want to track the impact of technology on an industry, it's always a smart idea to watch the trends in Asia, especially in Japan.

ScreenDaily.com reports that the first simultaneous movie release across multiple platforms has occurred in Japan for the first time: Kadokawa Pictures' romantic comedy Fujoshi Kanojo was released in cinemas, online, and was also available via mobile phone.

The film, which translates as My Geeky Girlfriend, launched on two screens in Tokyo and Nagoya on May 2, through distributor SPO Entertainment, as well as on pay-per-view broadband site, ShowTime, and Kadokawa-Docomo's i-Movie Gate mobile portal.

Online and mobile viewers will be charged $10 (Y1,000), which is the same price as the discounted advance ticket for the film. The film, which will be rolled out to a further ten screens by the early summer, has been adapted from a successful blog story and has also been developed in a novel and manga.

SPO said the innovative release pattern was developed from the film's online roots. This has been supported by a digital marketing campaign, including on content site GyaO, which hosts the film's website and has 22 million registered users. The blog's original author Pentabu has also been adding to the buzz by blogging about the film's release.