I tried home-streaming new movies with the $150,000 setup the super-rich swear by

Courtney Verrill

The debate over Sean Parker's Screening Room startup, which would let people stream movies still playing in theaters from home, rages on. But the rich and famous have been doing exactly that for years now.

Prima Cinema provides its customers — including top CEOs and celebrities — with first-run movies to stream in their living rooms and private screening rooms, and it has the full support of the movie studios. Though it comes at a much higher cost for customers than what Parker is proposing.

So how much would you have to spend to watch first-run movies from home like the super-rich? And what does it involve?

I got a glimpse of the luxury Prima experience (and learned how much it costs once you set up everything) while visiting the showroom of electronic manufacturer Crestron. 

Let's imagine this is your living room. (It's actually the showroom of Crestron, where I tried the Prima setup.)

And you have a top-of-the-line flatscreen TV. Prima requires that you have a screen that's at least 100 inches on the diagonal.

If you're famous and money is not a problem — if you're, say, Leonardo DiCaprio — Prima is the best way to watch movies currently in theaters while avoiding the headache of being spotted in public.