Nippon’s biggest telecommunications company NTT and legendary film studios Toho [JP] and Kadokawa are jointly paving the way for distributing content (movies, sport events, concerts etc.) to movie theaters all across Japan via fiber-optic networks.

The companies plan to replace conventional projectors with digital servers and projectors, using NTT’s broadband fiber-optics network as early as this spring.

Four reasons were cited for the move:
- no costs anymore for copying movies on film
- no physical delivery to theaters necessary
- no fuss with films that are no longer needed anymore
- digital movies can be played over and over without losing quality

Toho and Kadokawa not only produce movies but also own 45 theaters, in which a total of 407 screens are installed.

Via Nikkei [registration required, subscription required]