Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007 - (Page 3)

www.homemediamagazine.com MENU FROM THE EDITOR BY THOMAS K. ARNOLD, PUBLISHER www.homemediamagazine.com Determination or Desperation? PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Thomas K. Arnold EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Prange EDITORIAL Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angelique Flores Senior Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Gruenwedel Senior Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Tribbey Assistant Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Latchem Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Billy Gil, Kyra Kudick Contributors. . . . . . . . . John Gaudiosi, Anne Sherber, Fred Topel, Ralph Tribbey, Holly J. Wagner T ART Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melbert Sebayan Graphic Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Park RESEARCH Market Research Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Burner ADVERTISING 800/338-6700, FAX 714/338-6712 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . John Boezinger 714/338-6704 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Savant 714/368-1020 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kurt Wohlman 714/338-6749 Group Administrative Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Guerena Business Analyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joni Wu For reprints, call 800-290-5460, ext. 100 or HomeMediaMagazine@reprintbuyer. com For direct-mail lists, call Ilene Schwartz, Kroll Direct, 216/371-1667 FAX 216/371-1669 ilene@krolldirect.com here’s a fine line between determination and desperation. able. HD software was initially supposed to take off in Q4 2006, Both are motivating the studios’ increasingly aggressive with the debut of Sony’s PlayStation 3 and a major promotional show of support for the two high-definition formats. counteroffensive from the HD DVD camp. When not much Packaged media has long been the studios’ cash cow. As DVD happened, sights were set on Q4 2007. But again, sales numbers sales slow, studios are determined to drive consumers to next- are far from impressive, with press releases flying the moment gen discs. HDTV sales are soaring, yet neither a title hits the 100,000-unit mark — a far cry Blu-ray Disc nor HD DVD have taken off. The from the early days of DVD, when the bar was SALES NUMBERS ARE FAR lack of a unified standard has kept hardware set much higher, at 1 million units. FROM IMPRESSIVE, sales at an anemic level, despite drastic price Now, the consensus is high-def discs won’t WITH PRESS RELEASES cuts and a slew of high-profile promotions. be a serious business until Q4 2008, and FLYING THE MOMENT Studios are determined to sway consumers A TITLE HITS THE 100,000-UNIT studios are anxious not to be branded the boys into buying next-gen players. They’re pumping who cried wolf. Hence, a certain sense of desMARK — A FAR CRY FROM out software like crazy, and they’re pumping peration. One champion of HD DVD played THE EARLY DAYS OF DVD. huge sums of money into promotions, such up the fact that standard DVDs look better as the Walt Disney Co.’s mall tour. when played on an HD DVD player, implying That’s not all. Many high-def disc players come with a bundle consumers should buy a machine even if the HD DVD format of software. Some studios are offering exclusives, such as Sony remains the underdog. Pictures’ bundling of the Blu-ray Disc of Spider-Man 3 with the BluThat kind of talk is exactly what we don’t need. It only fuels ray versions of the first two “Spider-Man” movies. And, mindful consumer indifference — the same indifference that years ago of the critical role big-name talent played in propagating DVD, the sank both rival next-gen audio formats and ultimately sent music studios are bringing out high-profile spokesmen, including Jerry consumers online. Bruckheimer for Blu-ray and Jeffrey Katzenberg for HD DVD. If the whole thing smacks of desperation, that’s understand- Thomas K. Arnold’s e-mail address is tarnold@questex.com MARKETING Marketing Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kristina Kronenberg 714/338-6743 Marketing Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kaitlyn DeWaard Online Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Renee Rosado IN THIS ISSUE OCT. 28-NOV.3, 2007 / VOL. 29 / NO. 43 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CALEND AR PRODUCTION Production Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonnie Ling Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justin-Nicholas Toyama 714/338-6765 Assistant Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brady Gallardo >> HIGH-DEF I AFM (AMERICAN FILM MARKET) More than 8,000 industry leaders gather for screenings, seminars, networking and events. Oct. 31-Nov. 7 Santa Monica, Calif. info: www.ifta-online.org/afm/home.asp OFFICES 714/338-6700, 800/371-6897, FAX 714/338-6710 homemediamagazine@questex.com 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707-8716 Landlords try to stop Movie Gallery store closures; Image Entertainment merger approved; packaged media helps Amazon Q3; Circuit City tries handson stores. Chris Tribbey, Senior Reporter 818-788-8616, FAX 818-530-2486 16130 Ventura Blvd. #570 Encino, CA 91436 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CREDIT Credit/Collections Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ron Wright Sr. CIRCULATION For subscriptions, please go online to www.homemediamagazine.com For current single copy, back issues or CD-ROM, call 866/344-1315 or 615/377-3322 for outside the U.S. Audience Development Manager. . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Joy Obaña Transformers sells 8.3 million units in its first six days of video release; Halo 3 boosts video game sales; AAMCO teams with Fox for Die Hard promo. I TV DVD AWARDS Home Media Magazine presents the fourth annual TV DVD Awards Nov. 12 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City, Calif. The best TV DVD releases of the past year, as selected by a national consumer vote, will be honored in 16 categories, including best series by decade, best complete-series set and best children’s series. Nov. 12 Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles info: tvdvd.dvdconferences.com Samsung has a price cut and free titles for its Blu-ray players, while Microsoft offers free HD DVDs with the Xbox 360 add-on; Method Man on HD DVD. >> ELECTRONIC DELIVERY BUSINESS QUESTEX MEDIA GROUP INC. President & CEO: Kerry C. Gumas; Executive Vice President & CFO: Tom Caridi; Executive Vice President: Robert S. Ingraham; Executive Vice President: Tony D’Avino; Executive Vice President, Corporate Development: Claudia Flowers; Vice President & General Manager: Don Rosenberg; Vice President, Digital Media: Seth Nichols; Vice President, Human Resources: Diane Evans © 2007 Questex Media Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including by photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by Questex Media Group, Inc. for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923 phone: 978-750-8400 fax 978-750-4470; call for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. For those not registered with the CCC, send permission request in writing to questexpermissions@reprintbuyer.com or call 800-494-9051 ext. 100. News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 21 22 Cable revenue is projected to top $121 billion by 2017; online consoles said to surpass 37 million units by next year; Xbox Live adds cartoons. Pipeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I HIGH-DEF 2.0 Home Media Magazine presents High-Def 2.0, a one-day event that will serve as a preview of what’s in store for the high-definition disc market in 2008, the year the studios have targeted as breakout time for Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. Coming just weeks before the Consumer Electronics Show, the event will provide a sneak peek of studio announcements expected to be made at CES, along with an overview of plans for the coming year, from marquee titles headed to HD disc to advances in interactivity, technology and packaging. Dec. 4 Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles info: www.homemediaconferences.com Transformers Genius Products rushes out Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween to DVD; hip-hop spoof director discusses his “glockumentary”; Disney shelves titles, with a limited run of Cinderella II. Printed in the U.S.A. TV DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 18 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See what TV DVD titles are coming up, includ- Transformers morphed from a theatrical smash into ing Perfect Strangers: The Complete First & Second a DVD force, topping the sales and rental charts. Seasons from Warner, and Dirt: The Complete First Top 20 DVD Sellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Season from Disney. Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts . . . . . . . . 23 Does Spider-Man 3 hold up on DVD and Blu-ray Just Announced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disc? What does Pixar Short Films Collection Universal unleashes Balls of Fury and sends off Vol. 1 have in store for animation fans? Will view- Mr. Bean’s Holiday; New Line plays ball with Mr. ers want to roll around with Pigs? Woodcock; Warner celebrates December Boys. October 28–November 3, 2007 Home Media Magazine http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.ifta-online.org/afm/home.asp http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://tvdvd.dvdconferences.com http://www.homemediaconferences.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007

Home Media Magazine - October 28, 2007 Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007

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