Having won two Golden Globes for its TV series Transparent and then signing Woody Allen to create another new series, Amazon has announced that it will produce and "acquire" original movies for theatrical release, and will then change the current paradigm by shortening the time between when a movie hits home video from the current 39-52 weeks after its theatrical debut to just 4-8 weeks.  Needless to say, theater owners are not exactly on board with the new plan, and Amazon may have some trouble securing screens for its theatrical debuts, but time will tell how this attempt to radically alter the way movies are distributed to the public will play out.

According to Deadline, Amazon plans to produce or acquire about a dozen theatrical features a year.  The first Amazon production, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: The Green Legend, is set to debut in some IMAX theaters on August 28th, and will be available for streaming the same day.  Simultaneous theatrical and streaming release did not work well for Sony’s ill-fated The Interview, but it appears that Amazon is planning to keep at least a 4-8 week theatrical window for its subsequent movie releases.

While announcing its big move into theatrical production, Amazon also appears to be paring back some of its small screen initiatives.  Amazon recently cancelled its project with X-Files creator Chris Carter to create The After, a post-apocalyptic series about eight strangers who have to survive an inexplicably violent and dangerous world.  Interestingly the news of the cancellation of The After came just a week before the announcement this weekend that Fox is in very serious talks to revive the original X-Files series with all the show’s most important players including Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson on board for the remake.