I was doing my usual news dig for something to post today and I came across this...

It’s the top movie downloads from the Playstation Network store. By itself it’s not all that interesting, however the content of the top 20 is.

Many of the films on the list did not do well in theatres, or did not live up to expectations. However they seem to be quite popular with people as a downloadable entertainment option. Speed Racer is in 8th place, a film that did not recover the production costs ($120M) even when you combine domestic and foreign box office takes ($93M).

The Happening, at number 1, did recover its costs taking in almost 4 times the production ($48M) budget with $163M worldwide. However this is a film that was given extremely low marks by viewers and if I had come home with the same grade as this film got when I was in school my parents would have been ’very disappointed.’ The Zohan also fits in to this category.

Then there’s Grandma’s Boy who pulled in an astonishing $7M worldwide...

Finally down here in 19th place you’ve got Uwe Boll’s Dungeon Siege adaptation In the Name of the King. A film which wasn’t so bad but could have been better. While a lot of viewers gave it low marks I thought it was an OK film. It suffered from slow parts at times but the storytelling was better and the casting was...fair. The film pulled in about $12M worldwide, coming in second out of all of his video-game-to-film adaptations though I couldn’t find numbers on Postal.

What does it all mean? Well I’m not certain but it sure seems like movie downloads are replacing the Budget and $1 theatres. Why go to a shoddy budget theatre when you can download the film and watch it at home? No more worrying about whether that sticky substance under foot it coke, Gummi Bears or something far more insidious. Set the download, fire up the 46" LCD TV, microwave a bag of popcorn, pop the top on a frosty beverage and you’ve got movie night in the comfort of your own home without driving, screaming children, sticky floors and pimply-faced theatre attendants eying you up like you’re a total loser.

I’d like to hear from some of you who have actually been downloading films on your PS3s. So tell us your reasons if you would be so kind.