Home Media Magazine - February 10-16, 2008 - (Page 32) NEWS Warner Spruces Up Major Catalog Classics Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com Comcast Continued from page 1 Q5 Blu-ray Continued from page 1 the fourth quarter, Warner will release horror and holiday collections, including an ultimate collector’s edition of A Christmas Story. Many of these classics also will be issued on Blu-ray Disc, including Bonnie and Clyde, which will be packaged as a hardcover book with pages of behindthe-scenes stories and photos. Warner is partnering with Best Buy and Amazon.com on the promotion. The impetus for the campaign is You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, a new documentary produced, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker and Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel. The documentary will be broadcast nationally as a three-part PBS special in September, in partnership with American Masters. It will be issued on DVD that month, along with a 550-page companion book written by Schickel and fellow film critic George Perry. “Our studio history is something we take very seriously,” said George Feltenstein, Warner’s SVP of classic catalog marketing, whom Bonnie and Clyde star Warren Beatty, at a gala launch event Tuesday night on the Warner Bros. studio lot, called “a force of nature” for his dedication to classic cinema. The DVD and Blu-ray releases represent “an incredibly important and crucial kickoff to the studio’s 85th anniversary,” said Ron Sanders, worldwide president of Warner Home Video. “This studio has such a rich history Warner Home Video’s Ron Sanders (left) with Warren Beatty at Warner’s gala. of quality.” Sanders said that while the catalog campaign clearly is a commercial undertaking, “the dirty little secret is that it’s also the chance for several opportunities — film restoration we probably couldn’t afford otherwise and, secondly, it allows us to reintroduce great classics to a new generation of filmgoer.” Beatty, in an impromptu speech, agreed. “What I’m really interested in is film preservation and restoration — although I don’t mind making a little money, as well,” he said, referring to his involvement with the Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Bonnie and Clyde. Beatty talked up the DVD format as a great way to preserve Hollywood’s legacy in an easy-to-obtain and affordable fashion. “When I think back to what I had to do to get two 16mm prints [back in the 1960s],” he said. “It took me two and a half weeks.” Of the 6,800 films in Warner’s library, about 1,400 are now available on DVD. Among the classics being restored and readied for DVD debuts this year are All This and Heaven Too, Brother Orchid, Deception, Gold Diggers of 1937, Kid Galahad, Lady Killer, San Antonio, Thank Your Lucky Stars and Watch on the Rhine. Several other notable films previously released on DVD will be spruced up as special editions or ultimate collector’s editions, including Goodfellas, Heat, Dirty Harry, How the West Was Won and Bonnie and Clyde, the latter of which was part of Warner’s inaugural DVD release slate in March 1997. Warner also announced that four classics are going on moratorium this year, with DVD and Blu-ray Disc relaunches planned for 2009: Woodstock, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and North by Northwest. including high-def VOD, through several new content additions in addition to new day-and-date releases in February. “Warner Bros. and New Line have started making select titles available nationwide to Comcast and other cable operators day-and-date with DVD,” said spokesperson Jenni Moyer. New movie titles include Jodie Foster starrer The Brave One, which streets on DVD Feb. 5; cooking comedy No Reservations, with Catherine Zeta-Jones (Feb. 12); Rendition, with Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, and Oscar-nominated Michael Clayton, with George Clooney, both Feb. 19. Other titles, also available in HD and out on DVD, include Shoot ’Em Up, Mr. Woodcock and The Invasion. In addition, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum and the “Rush Hour” films are available as trilogies separately on VOD. Comcast also is offering Oscar-winning films Ray, The Pianist, Traffic, The Queen, Dances With Wolves, Rain Man, The Departed and Gandhi on VOD as a lead-up to the Academy Awards Feb. 24. Last month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the company planned to bow 1,000 on-demand HD movies by the end of 2008, using over-cable-service-interface specifications (DOCSIS 3.0), a new open standard, high-speed Internet service created by an industry R&D consortium. selves,” said Lionsgate’s EVP and GM Ron Schwartz. “Sales have been very robust on our Blu-ray product, including War and 3:10 to Yuma.” Mark Horak, EVP and GM of worldwide operations with Warner Home Video, said the studio will mine its library for possible Blu-ray releases as well as aid in consumer education. “Speaking very clearly to the consumer about what the benefits of high-definition content versus standard-definition are going to be the key priority for us in 2008,” Horak said. Marshall Forster, senior EVP, North America, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, said the focus will be less on winning the format war and more on addressing the needs of the consumer in adopting Blu-ray. “Already we have seen a very positive response in BD sales activity in just the first week after the announcement. Sales were close to 6-to-1 in favor of Bluray sales last week,” Foster said. Ralph Tribbey, editor of The DVD Release Report, cautioned not to put too much weight on studio hyperbole regarding Blu-ray. “Six [Blu-ray] titles a week is not going to cut it,” Tribbey said. Tribbey forecasts about 3,000 titles, including HD DVD, to be released in the first quarter — on par with last year, he said. Tribbey said studios should avoid digging themselves a hole in sales when new releases are put on the backburner from May through September. Lionsgate’s Schwartz thinks Blu-ray could be a prime filler for such as hole during that time. LAT E F L ASHES I HD DVD ADD-ON PRICE CUT Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on is down to $130. The player comes packaged with an HD DVD of King Kong, a remote for the player and the now-standard offer for five free HD DVDs via mail. Toshiba’s low-end standalone HD DVD player, the HD-A2, can be had for as low as $150. – Chris Tribbey and revenue of $195 million during the same period last year. In a call with analysts, CEO Cary Deacon said BCI will focus on Latino and budget fare going forward and projected profitability for the unit in 2009. – Erik Gruenwedel ‘Placid’ Promo in Florida I CEA: CONSUMERS MORE AWARE OF DIGITAL TV Consumer awareness of digital TV has increased 80% since 2006, according to a survey by the Consumer Electronics Association. The results indicated that 72% of respondents learned of the transition to digital via TV, 39% from friends and family and 26% from the Internet. The report differs from a similar study released by Consumer Reports that found 74% of consumers remain confused about their options and 61% are completely unaware of the pending transfer. – Erik Gruenwedel I CIRCUIT CITY UPS CREDIT Circuit City Stores Inc. received a vote of confidence from lenders who agreed to up the chain’s line of credit from $500 million to $1.3 billion through Jan. 31, 2013. The previous credit agreement was set to expire June 27, 2009. – Erik Gruenwedel I NAVARRE POSTS Q3 DROP Ongoing struggles with distributor BCI resulted in Navarre Corp. posting thirdquarter (ended Dec. 31) net income of $3.9 million on revenue of $217 million, down slightly from income of $4 million 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment promoted the Jan. 29 release of its Lake Placid 2 DVD at several alligator farms in Florida Feb. 1-3. Pictured is an alligator trainer at the Everglades Alligator Farm who donned a Lake Placid 2 shirt for the crowd. 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