Home Media Magazine - August 19-25, 2007 - (Page 40)

NEWS Analyst: Blockbuster Got Movielink for Peanuts By Erik Gruenwedel R E TA I L Blockbuster Inc.’s desired entry into the electronic sellthrough business with the recent purchase of Movielink appears to have been an opportunity too good to pass up. Dallas-based Blockbuster, in a regulatory filing last week, disclosed it paid just $6.6 million in cash for the download service started by the major studios in 2001 and once report- www.homemediaretailing.com edly valued as high as $80 million. By comparison, rival Netflix Inc. has stated it would spend more than $40 million this year developing its PC-based content-streaming service. “Blockbuster just jump-started that for less money,” said Michael Pachter, analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. “The studios recognize that they are never going to make any money on dig- ital downloads, and they don’t really have any interest in doing so.” He said the studios know they have the power to keep digital downloads from developing while maintaining DVD sales as a big business. “DVDs are always going to be more profitable because they allow for an impulse purchase,” Pachter said. “There is no such thing as an impulse purchase of a download.” Disney Defends Baby DVDs Continued from page 1 “Our assessment, based on what we have been able to learn thus far, is that [the study’s] methodology is doubtful, its data seem anomalous and the inferences it posits unreliable,” Iger wrote. The study, “Associations Between Media Viewing and Language Development in Children Under Age 2 Years,” asked 1,008 parents of children born in the past two years a series of questions regarding media their children watch, and asked the parents to name how many words their children knew off a list of about 90 words. The study concluded that children who watched baby videos knew fewer words than infants who didn’t watch baby videos. While the press release names “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” DVDs as potentially detrimental to an infant’s language learning development, the study concludes that researchers did not directly test the developmental impact of viewing baby videos. In rejecting Iger’s request, president Emmert defended both the study and the press release in a letter to Iger. “The researchers find no inconsistencies between the content of the news release Series Bourne Darkman Die Hard Harry Potter Ocean’s Pirates of the Caribbean Resident Evil Rush Hour Saw Shrek Spider-Man X-Men Studio Universal Universal Fox Warner Warner Disney Sony Pictures New Line Lionsgate Para./DreamWorks Sony Pictures Fox Trilogy Release Date Most Recent Release Winter 2007 Available Now Available Now Winter 2007 N/A N/A N/A N/A Oct. 23 N/A Oct. 30 Available Now The Bourne Ultimatum Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (DTV) Live Free or Die Hard Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Ocean’s Thirteen Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Rush Hour 3 Saw III: Director’s Cut Shrek the Third Spider-Man 3 Ultimate Heroes Collection DVD Release Date N/A Dec. 8, 2004 N/A Winter 2007 N/A Dec. 4 N/A Oct. 23 Nov. 13 Oct. 30 Oct. 16 Resident Evil: Extinction (Sept. 21 Theatrical) N/A Trilogies Abound for Q4 Continued from page 1 “Offering the films together in an exclusive three-pack gives fans a collectible set perfect for the holiday season,” said Lexine Wong, senior EVP of worldwide marketing for Sony Pictures. In advance of the Sept. 21 theatrical release of Resident Evil: Extinction, Sony Sept. 4 will release a $19.94 two-DVD set of the first two films in the video game-based series: 2002’s Resident Evil and 2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The set includes a ticket to the third film. Lionsgate is getting a cut of the trilogy pie with the Oct. 23 (prebook Sept. 26) release of the Saw Trilogy (six-DVD set $49.98). The set has the two-disc volumes Saw: Uncut, Saw II: Special Edition, and Saw III: Director’s Cut, in a box featuring a molded face of the puppet from the films. “It’ll be a way to get all the special editions at a real value price,” said Chela Johnson, VP of marketing for Lionsgate. Saw III: Director’s Cut also will be released separately the same day as a two-disc set at $26.98. “The trilogy is six discs,” Johnson said. “That might be a little daunting for the casual fan or people who just want to pick up the latest movie.” The set has the director’s cut of the film with previously unseen footage, three commentaries, a trivia game, a Hydrovibe music video, a “choose the death” featurette, a featurette on the film’s make-up, a “filmmaker faves” featurette and a sneak peek at Saw IV, which opens in theaters Oct. 26. To promote the film The Bourne Ultimatum, now in theaters, Universal Studios released The Bourne Files, a $22.98 three-DVD set that has The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. A trilogy set seems likely. Universal also has released The Darkman Trilogy ($19.98), featuring the 1990 theatrical Darkman, as well as its two direct-to-video sequels. In June, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the Die Hard Collection ($39.98), a four-DVD set with the first three films in the series (Die Hard, Die Hard 2, and Die Hard With a Vengeance), as well as a fourth disc with a Live Free or Die Hard preview and two featurettes, plus a ticket to Live Free, which is still in theaters. Last October, Fox released the X-Men Trilogy set ($34.98). Oct. 16 Fox will release the $39.98 Ultimate Heroes Collection, with X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil and Elektra. Warner Home Video will release a “Harry Potter” set this holiday season with all five released “Potter” films on DVD ($119) and both Blu- ray Disc and HD DVD ($149 each). While a home video street date for Ocean’s Thirteen hasn’t been announced, Warner is planning a boxed set of the three films for DVD ($51.82) and HD DVD and Blu-ray ($79.98). The high-def releases will include exclusive never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes from Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve. Warner in May released a DVD twopack of the first two movies at $29.98. With the recent theatrical release of Rush Hour 3, New Line Home Entertainment has a potential trilogy boxed set of its own. New Line released special-edition DVDs of the first two films in May. Shrek the Third is coming to DVD Nov. 13, from DreamWorks and Paramount Home Entertainment (see story, page 38). Lew Coleman, president and acting CFO of DreamWorks Animation, in a conference call hinted that the “Shrek” series will see a number of releases in the holiday season. On the “Pirates of the Caribbean” front, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Dec. 4 will release a single-disc ($29.99), two-disc special edition ($34.99) and Blu-ray Disc ($34.99) of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. A trilogy set has not been announced, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer has hinted at a boxed set. and their paper. They believe the release accurately reflects the paper’s conclusions and their commentary,” he wrote. Iger and other companies that produce baby DVDs said the study doesn’t distinguish between entertainment videos, DVDs tailored for language learning, or those requiring parent-infant interaction, such as “Baby Einstein.” “Media outlets are widely citing the study as demonstrating that use of ‘Baby Einstein’ videos harms infants,” Iger wrote in his letter “This discouraging assessment — directly provoked by your university’s press release — is not supported by any credible study of which we are aware, let alone the flawed study on which the release was purportedly based. “The cloud cast by the university’s actions is truly regrettable.” Emmert wrote: “We do not view this study as the last word on the subject of the influence baby DVDs have on child development. The findings were considered significant enough to be reported in a major journal (Journal of Pediatrics), and as a public institution we feel duty-bound to make the public aware of these findings.” Les Paul in Tune With DVD A host of NYC musicians lined up to have music legend Les Paul sign guitars, pick guards, drum heads and more at a Barnes & Noble store in New York City Aug. 14. The appearance was made to tout The American Masters PBS/Koch Vision’s DVD release of Les Paul: Chasing Sound. Les Paul is flanked by Koch Vision’s Walter Schmidt (L) and Dan Gurlitz. L AT E F L A S H E S I NETFLIX TESTS PRICES Netflix is testing two lower-priced ($1 less) monthly plans while at the same time adding social features and eliminating email customer support. The online DVD pioneer introduced a new “community” tab that allows users to scroll through thirdparty movie reviews, find Top 10 movie lists and answer trivia questions. Finally, the 6.7 million-subscriber service instituted a 24-hour, toll-free customer support line in Portland, Ore., based on the premise members appreciate talking to a real person. —Erik Gruenwedel For the Record: Among the new edition of Toshiba HD DVD players, the HD-A3 and HD-A30 models feature 720p/1080i and 1080i/1080p resolution, respectively (HM, Aug. 19-25). HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published 52 times per year by Questex Media Group, Inc., 306 West Michigan Street, Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802. Subscription rates: $49.99 for one year in the United States and Possessions; $79.99 for one year in Canada and Mexico; all other countries $99.99 for one year (by surface mail). Add $75 annually for air-expedited service. Single copies (prepaid only): $6.99 in the United States, $8.99 in Canada and Mexico, $13.99 all other countries. Back issues, if available: $9.99 in the U.S.; $15.99 in Canada and Mexico; $26.99 for all other countries. 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Contents News News/Box Office News TV DVD Q4 Preview Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - August 19-25, 2007

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