Kris Jenner. Comcast Entertainment Group TCA Cocktail Reception held at the Langham Hotel. Los Angeles, California


How much will consumers be willing to shell out to watch a movie while it is still playing in theaters? Universal apparently believes that $60 sounds like a reasonable figure. It will soon find out. They'll be making their Eddie Murphy-Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist available via video-on-demand at that price beginning on November 23 with a test involving about 500,000 Comcast subscribers. (Comcast is the controlling stockholder of Universal.)

But while the movie opens on November 4, it won't be available even for the $60 rental until November 23. In a statement, the studio said, "This experiment will allow the two companies to sample consumer appetite for this film in this window at this price while allowing the film to achieve its full potential at the box office."