Home Media Magazine - January 27, 2008 - (Page 38) NEWS Digital Copies on Discs Grow Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com wide president of 20th Century Fox. Jim Wuthrich, SVP of digital distribution for Warner Bros., said Warner was “very pleased” with the fact that nearly to 100,000 people so far have taken advantage of the Harry Potter digital copy. Some future twodisc special editions will likely feature digital copies, he said. “It’s rewarding people for buying our product,” he said. Also, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced that certain future Blu-ray Discs would have a digital copy of the movie that can be moved to the PlayStation Portable, via the PlayStation 3. It’s likely only a matter of time before other studios follow, said Russ Crupnick, VP and senior industry analyst for The NPD Group. “It’s a way of potentially keeping up the value of the product, extending the life of physical media,” he said. “For the consumer it’s getting your cake and eating it too. Now I don’t have to go to a digital source for a portable copy.” Jim Gianopulos, chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, said the studio made its decision in part because of consumer demand. “One of the most requested features DVD buyers have been asking for is the ability to get the movies they bought into their iTunes library,” he said. Digital copies bundled with DVDs are a welcome alternative to piracy, said Krishnan Rajagopalan, VP of digital media technologies for the Motion Picture Association of America. “MPAA studios are focused on offering consumers more legitimate choices as to how, when and where they enjoy content,” she said. “The high level of online piracy demonstrates that there is demand for online access to movies, and studios are responding by offering legitimate alternatives to theft.” One criticism is that the digital copies won’t work on all devices. “If it were to play on all devices, we would have to put it out there unprotected,” Warner’s Wuthrich said. “We want to make it available to the widest audience possible, while still protecting our content.” The Fox digital copy can be viewed on a computer, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and portable devices with Microsoft Windows’ PlaysForSure. Warner’s digital copies play on PCs or portable devices that handle PlaysForSure. “I think this is a remarkable leap, actually,” said Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for Macrovision. “It’s not unreasonable for consumers to want this, and the studios are meeting the consumer demand.” 300, that let DVD buyers download a digital copy. But it was Fox’s special edition of Live Free or Die Hard last November that first included digital copy on the disc itself. In December, Warner’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix included a digital copy for both PCs and portable devices. Then, on Jan. 15, Fox announced a deal with Apple that puts iTunes digital copies of movies on many Fox special-edition DVDs, beginning with Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest. The March 11 release of Hitman will be Fox’s next DVD with the iTunes digital copy. “A DVD with a digital copy for Apple offers a simple way for consumers to satisfy their growing desire to watch what they want, when they want and, most importantly, how and where they want,” said Mike Dunn, world- SELECT OSCAR NOMINEES ON DVD Film Across the Universe (Sony) American Gangster (Universal) Assassination of Jesse … (Warner) Away From Her (Lionsgate) The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) Eastern Promises (Universal) Enchanted (Disney) The Golden Compass (New Line) Gone Baby Gone (Disney/Miramax) In the Valley of Elah (Warner) Into the Wild (Paramount) La Vie En Rose (HBO Video) Michael Clayton (Warner) Categories Costume Design Supporting Actress — Ruby Dee; Art Direction Supporting Actor — Casey Affleck; Cinematography Actress — Julie Christie; Adapted Screenplay Film Editing; Sound Editing; Sound Mixing Actor — Viggo Mortensen Original Song (3 noms) Visual Effects; Art Direction Supporting Actress — Amy Ryan Actor — Tommy Lee Jones Supporting Actor — Hal Holbrook, Film Editing Actress — Marion Cotillard; Costume Design; Makeup Best Picture; Actor — George Clooney; Supporting Studio Feb. 5*† Feb. 19** Feb. 5 Now Now** Now** Feb. 5** March 18 April 29* Feb. 12* Feb. 19 March 4** Now Feb. 19 Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal) Actress — Cate Blanchett; Costume Design Jessica Simpson Recalls Her ‘Blonde Ambition’ By Billy Gil ay what you want about Jessica Simpson (and plenty do) — the girl is irrepressibly upbeat. Her overwhelming peppiness is reflected in her first lead role, in Blonde Ambition, playing a girl from the South in New York, which streeted Jan. 22 (DVD $24.96) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Actor — Tom Wilkinson; Supporting Actress — Tilda Swinton; Director — Tony Gilroy; Musical Score — James Newton Howard; Original Screenplay No Country for Old Men (Disney/Miramax) Best Picture; Supporting Actor — Javier Bardem; Director — Ethan & Joel Cohen; Adapted Screenplay; Cinematography; Film Editing; Sound Editing; Sound Mixing * Also Available on Blu-ray ** Also Available on HD DVD Also Available on Blu-ray and HD DVD † Also Available on UMD S March 11* Netflix Ups Subs, Revenue Continued from page 1 a happy-go-lucky, feel-good type of role. It gave me the opportunity, being my first movie to be the lead in, to have more lines. I felt like it was a great opportunity because I could do a lot of physical comedy, which I love to do, and because I was surrounded by an awesome cast and got to work with a director like Scott Marshall. I HM: Could you relate to the role? so I could kind of relate to Katie a lot. Just how she moved out and became her own woman, I feel that I’ve done that in my own life. I think that you start to see how much strength she gains throughout the movie. I HM: What was it like working with such a great cast including the likes of Luke Wilson, Andy Dick and Penelope Ann Miller? growth, they can change their mind at any time.” Michael Pachter, media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said the apparent cooling off between Blockbuster and Netflix will be mutually beneficial. “When Blockbuster decided to make nice and advertise less in real dollars, Netflix decided to put a lot less marketing in this space,” Pachter said. Hastings said the studios continue to generate more than 40% of revenue through DVD, which he said was 20 times the combined electronic sellthrough and streaming revenue in 2007. “DVD continues to have many advantages over cable VOD and Internet VOD: ubiquitous content and players and earlier release dates,” he said. Hastings said Netflix is working to offer streamed content to Mac computers, which has thus far been delayed due to digital rights management issues involving Apple computers. Pachter said Netflix spent about $30 million on its streaming service in 2007, which he believes will increase to $45 million this year. Hastings said despite the defection of Warner Bros. from the HD DVD camp, widespread consumer adoption of Blu-ray Disc would only occur when player prices fall below $200 and Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures abandon HD DVD. “This would be a positive for the studios and a positive for Netflix, and it would fuel another decade of robust disc-based entertainment,” he said. Netflix posted fourth-quarter net income of $15.8 million on revenue of $302.4 million, compared to income of $14.9 million and revenue of $277.2 million during the same period the previous year. Overall revenue was $1.2 billion for fiscal 2007, up 21% from $996.7 million in 2006. Netflix ended the fourth quarter with nearly 7.5 million subscribers, up 18% from 6.3 million members last year. Hastings said the service projects ending 2008 with 8.4 million to 8.9 million subscribers, including 7.85 million to 8.05 million subs by the end of the first quarter. The company reported the lowest subscriber acquisition costs ($34.60) in six quarters, down from $44.31 the previous year, due in part to Blockbuster’s scaling back on marketing its Total Access service. I Home Media: What attracted you to this movie? Jessica Simpson: When I read the script, I just felt good. It warmed my heart. I thought that my fans would enjoy seeing me in a role that was Simpson: I can definitely relate because I’m from the South, and I think that I have still kept an innocence about me that kind of easily lets people take advantage or walk all over me [without me] really [knowing] it, Simpson: Luke was awesome. He’s an amazing person and really brought a lot to his character and brought a lot out of me. Larry Miller was one of my favorites on the set because he’s one of those comic geniuses, just that old-school comedy. I feel that my scenes with him were some of my best in the movie. JUST ANNOUNCED A Weekly Product Update* TITLE STREET DATE PREBOOK BOX OFFICE (MILLIONS) GENRE PRICE The Golden Compass 4/29 3/18 $68.5 Fantasy DVD $28.98, BD $39.98 New Line. 2007. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliot, Dakota Blue Richards. A young woman goes on a quest to protect the Golden Compass, a mystical device that can unveil the truth and see the future. Also available in a two-disc standard-definition edition for $34.99. No Country For Old Men 3/11 1/29 $49.1 Thriller DVD $29.99, BD $34.99 Disney/Miramax. 2007. Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, a man takes a suitcase of money he finds at a crime scene and is ruthlessly chased by a killer bent on retrieving the money. Hitman 3/11 2/13 $39.6 Action DVD $29.98, BD $39.98 Fox. 2007. Timothy Olyphant, Olga Kurylenko, Dougray Scott. Based on the video game franchise of the same name, the film follows an elite assassin who is followed by both Interpol and the Russian military. Also available in a two-disc version ($34.98). Moondance Alexander 4/29 4/2 $.04 Family DVD $26.98 Fox. 2007. Don Johnson, Lori Loughlin, Kay Panabak http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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