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This $35,000 gadget makes it possible to watch first-run movies at home

prima cinema
Your own home theater. Osbee

They say that money doesn't buy happiness.

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But it'll buy you a device that will let you watch movies at home while they're still in theaters.

Prima Cinema is a $35,000 system that gives you access to first-run movies in your home.

The system consists of a device — it's basically a computer with a 5-terabyte hard drive — that fits on the rack in a typical home theater. Movies are automatically downloaded to the system, and you can watch them anytime.

But that $35,000 is just for the device — each movis costs an additional $500.

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Prima Cinema carousel
What Prima Cinema customers see. Prima Cinema

Prima gets its movies directly from the studios before they're out in theaters. The company then encrypts them and sends them out to different Prima Cinema systems, typically at the exact time they come out in theaters.

Not every movie is available. Prima negotiates with studios for the rights to films, Haley Patterson, who oversees strategic partnerships for Prima, told Tech Insider. She added that Prima is in discussions with every studio, but about 60% of movies that are in theaters at any given time are on the system.

Studios get a portion of the $500 price of each film, just like they would from a regular movie theater.

Prima Cinema
The Prima Cinema system. Prima Cinema

Prima Cinema takes pirating seriously — the company has to make studios comfortable that their films won't leak online and somehow cannibalize ticket sales. 

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So before anyone can get a system installed at home, Prima Cinema makes you sign an agreement that says the movies are for personal use only. It also does a background check on you to make sure you don't have a history of pirating. 

"We run a very non-intrusive background check that's only looking for piracy," Patterson said. "Obviously we can't have people with Prima systems who have a track record of ripping films."

The company encrypts each film, and also watermarks each frame with a unique code. So if the movie somehow gets out, or even a picture of gets posted online, Prima can tell who it came from.

You also have to use Prima Cinema's fingerprint sensor to "unlock" your film when you purchase it.

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Prima Cinema fingerprint sensor
Prima Cinema's fingerprint sensor is usually installed in a wall or in a captains chair. Prima Cinema

The company won't disclose how many units it's sold since it started selling them four years ago, though Patterson said Prima's goal is to have 500 installed by the end of this year.

But if you want that $35,000 system, you're going to have to act fast. Prima Cinema plans to replace it with a high-end system that places 4K high-definition video next year.

And that will set you back $50,000. 

Prima Cinema
The back of a Prima Cinema system. Prima Cinema
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