I do not know what to think about this rumor. I would say it's busted right upfront (anonymous email):
At a Leica Day last year in La Jolla, CA, I heard that a large Hollywood studio had bought a copy of each R lens from Leica. They planned to retrofit them for use on motion picture cameras. I've heard subsequent rumors that Leica may be coming out with a line of cinema lenses.
Can someone that attended this meeting in La Jolla last year confirm this rumor?
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Well, you were aware that Leica’s old factory in Midland, Ontario Canada was where Panavision lenses were built, right? They are considered the top lenses in cinema. So that isn’t such a hard thing to believe.
Leica is definitely up to something with cinema – witness the licensing name ‘Leica Cinema’ filed late in 2007 overseas.
A director named Nico Beyer has been using Leica R lenses for years on a VistaVision camera. The camera is much larger film area than normal 35mm motion picture cameras, though slightly smaller than 35mm stills cameras.
Recall also that historically Leica made movie cameras in the past. Just look at the success of Cooke lenses in the motion picture business, and their new line of Red lenses, and it makes sense to tap into that market. The other factor is that Zeiss are making quite good revenues from their cinema lenses. Leica would be foolish not to get more involved in this market.