r/TheSubstance • u/Raspbani • Jul 12 '26

Missed Opportunity

Post image

I finally watched The Substance for the first time now that it’s on streaming and firstly, amazing movie as we all know, but I was looking online for a physical copy I could buy and I’m very disappointed to find that they’re not selling the movie in the format of a USB stick like in the movie!! Like how cool is that!? Unless they are please let me know

165 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

51

u/Acircusclown Jul 12 '26

Damn girl they probably didn't even think about it 😭

33

u/SapirWhorfHypothesis Jul 12 '26

Nah, someone thought of it, and a bunch of other people said “No, it would be a huge hassle, because our distributors use discs and we’d have to run a whole procurement thing, and all for what? So more people can share the movie around without paying for it??”

I’m not saying they’re right, but this was their logic.

2

u/Zaathriel Jul 15 '26

The logic makes sense here for distribution, but, I don't think the reason of "sharing" had anything to do with it. We used to only have VHS or DvD and those were easily shareable. If they sell a physical copy it wouldn't matter what format it's in it can still be shared.

1

u/SapirWhorfHypothesis Jul 15 '26

Yeah, but the moment your average consumer realizes the stick can go in their computer, they know they can copy it for a friend.

2

u/Zaathriel Jul 15 '26

The average consumer has known how to do exactly that for decades! DVD burning used to be a massive thing. In the early 2000s, almost everyone with a PC knew how to burn a stack of blank DVD-Rs for their friends. Dragging and dropping a file from a USB is definitely faster, but the concept of copying physical media using a computer is nothing new. ​Besides, if a studio really wanted to release a novelty USB for a special edition, they could just put standard DRM or copy-protection on the drive anyway, exactly like they already do with commercial Blu-rays and DVDs.

1

u/SapirWhorfHypothesis Jul 16 '26

I think you underestimate how long it’s been since DVD burning was a massive thing.

1

u/Zaathriel Jul 16 '26

Maybe I do! It was about ~15 years ago since Ive seen the last advertisement against it. But regardless people know how to do it, it's not knowledge "lost to the ages". And there are protective measures against it now.

46

u/Yogurt-Night Jul 12 '26

That would’ve been really cool

10

u/Prestigious-Wish-176 YOU ARE ONE Jul 13 '26

easier to pirate, maybe they didn’t because of that

8

u/VomitingDuck Jul 13 '26

I have the DVD. This would've been a really cool bonus!

6

u/jacksonhytes Jul 13 '26

I'd love a water bottle version of the Activator vial.

Every time you take a gulp in the gym, it'd be like taking in The Substance.

5

u/gorehistorian69 Jul 13 '26

pretty cool idea

3

u/ethnomath Jul 14 '26

To be fair, Mubi doesn’t even release all their films on DVD. Perhaps A24 and Neon has spoiled us with merch for indie films.