Los Angeles - Looking to offer a relatively cheap alternative in China, the world's largest pirate DVD market, Hollywood movie studios Warner Bros. (NYSE: TW) and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount and DreamWorks have partnered to sell new DVDs for $2.95 there as soon as two months after a film's U.S. premiere, Variety reported.

Warner launched CAV Warner Home Entertainment in 2005, and since then has placed some 400 of its own bargain-priced titles at 20,000 retail outlets in 50 cities in China, where pirate DVDs come out soon after theatrical releases and sell for as little as 68 cents.

Warner titles set for release next year in China through CAV include "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

"This agreement will have a big impact on the development of a legitimate DVD market," Warner Home Video Intl. president Phillippe Cardon told Variety.

"It further strengthens our value proposition to readily provide inexpensive, quality DVDs, which appeal to consumers who are used to purchasing cheap, pirated products."

Citing industry sources, Variety reported that other studios could join the Chinese DVD venture "within the next year or 18 months."

Warner is also reportedly working on a legal download system for the Chinese market.

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