Ed Burns' new movie debuts on iTunes

[Robinson_A]

Purple Violets, Edward Burns' latest film opened in wide release today on iTunes. For the next four weeks iTunes will be the only place you can catch Burns' newest film. Purple Violets premiered at the Tribecca Film Festival to good reviews however, was met with less than stellar distribution offers. Enter iTunes. Burns and his partners are using iTunes as a launch pad to the film's future release on DVD.

It's a world first and somewhat of a gamble for not only iTunes but Burns' himself. The Independent film community will be watching Purple Violets' success very closely as iTunes' video content continues to grow making it a more viable place for consumers to get first run content versus rereleasing old films at lesser quality with higher costs.

If this works out, iTunes may become the new face of indie cinema. They've already had great success with first run short films, some of which are Oscar nominated or winners, but have yet to crack features. Say what you will about iTunes, it has single handedly changed the music industry. While iTunes video downloads have not met with quite the same success, the shift from existing content to new and original content may prove to be the fuel iTunes needs to spark the next revolution.