An exchange to trade future box-office receipts is one step closer to reality.
On Monday, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted 3-2 to approve a contract to allow trading, the Associated Press reported.
Using the new Trend Exchange, traders would be allowed to bet on a movie's opening weekend gross.
Media Derivatives, which submitted the proposal for Trend Exchange, isn't the only game in town. Cantor Exchange is expecting a decision on a similar proposal later this month.
Some Hollywood studios oppose the exchanges, the Los Angeles Times reported:
The idea of betting on future box-office receipts has faced vociferous opposition from the movie industry, led by the Motion Picture Assn. of America, which has said that the contracts would be vulnerable to manipulation and could even hurt how movies perform in theaters.
Trend Exchange has not officially announced which movies will be listed first, but the company is expected "to move fairly quickly," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
