Coming soon to a theatre near you.

A movie theater in a suburb of America's technology capital has begun trial-running a payment method that allows customers to not only purchase tickets from their cellphones but actually present an on-screen barcode to the tickettaker. The Emagine Entertainment theater in suburban Detroit is the first US theater to implement pay-by-cell technology from Mobile Box Office, which is currently restricted to Internet-enabled phones with color screens. Moviegoers need only go to the MBO site, buy a ticket, wait for a text message with a link back to MBO, and follow the link to a webpage with a unique barcode representing the purchase. Emagine has installed scanners that read the barcode off of the phone's screen and grant access to the theater.

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