After Wednesday’s surprise agreement with the two largest exhibition chains to reduce the period of time that movies play exclusively in theaters, Paramount Pictures may have finally cracked the code on one of Hollywood’s most vexing challenges.
But by getting AMC Theatres and Cineplex Entertainment to allow Paramount to make two October releases — “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” and “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” — available for home viewing just 17 days after they hit theaters, Paramount has shown that studios and theater chains may finally be ready to cooperate in dealing with one of Hollywood’s biggest problems.