The creation and handling of 35mm movie prints costs an estimated $1 billion annually for the US market alone, making it inevitable that movies will eventually be distributed and projected digitally. Digital imaging and associated technologies are advancing so fast that few can keep up with the field, but resistance to digital projection remains for a number of reasons. Traditionally, digital quality has not been the best, and the prospect of producing high quality digital versions of movies gives studios, already obsessed with piracy, nightmares. Nevertheless, there are individuals who believe that the changeover is going to happen within the next five years, not only saving both studios an theaters money, but lowering the cost of making movies to the point that independent filmmakers will stand a better chance of breaking into mainstream theaters.

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