Associated Press is reporting that Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) are teaming up to develop a digital film delivery system for beaming, via satellite and broadband, movies to U.S. exhibitors. This technology has been discussed to death for a decade and usually, it makes the studios and distributors skittish, since there’s a lot of revenue in distribution. But with two studios and some powerhouse exhibitors behind it, it could be the beginning of the inevitable. AP says DCIP is owned by Regal, AMC and Cinemark theaters, which account for 14,000 screens in North America.

As the AP story points out, the technology is great for exhibitors because it gives them tons more flexibility. They can have special screenings of independent or foreign films that wouldn’t usually have wide release in the U.S. They can expand the number of screens for a very popular movie and they can more quickly replace flops.

Many in our industry have waited, and prepared for this, with digital cinema projectors and projection systems already on the market. It’s a bit early but… congrats.