Netflix takes swing with Crouching Tiger sequel

Hollywood's carefully controlled system of movie rollouts is officially under siege.

Windowing - the practice of opening a movie first in theaters and then in other stages of home video, streaming and television release - has been under increasing pressure as smaller screens fight against the prominence of the theatrical big screen. Now, Netflix has sounded the most notable blow against windowing, announcing plans to release a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on the day it hits Imax theaters in August.

The film, produced by the Weinstein Co, isn't a studio production, so it's in many ways only marginally more significant than the plethora of independent films regularly released on video-on-demand. But the announcement constitutes the biggest move yet by a major digital outlet to blow up Hollywood's traditional release pattern.