Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007 - (Page 8)

NEWS BRIEFS I BORDERS TAPS BAKER & TAYLOR When Borders Group launches its new e-commerce site, www.Borders.com, in early 2008, Baker & Taylor will be in charge of fulfilling customers’ orders for books, music and DVDs. Borders.com, which is undergoing beta testing, will feature store and employee reviews, a “wish list” feature for customers, and a “Borders at the Movies” section with trailers and interviews. – Chris Tribbey www.homemediamagazine.com Landlords Seek Halt to Gallery Store Closures Lease holders want more control over shuttering of stores By Erik Gruenwedel cumvent lease restrictions on store locations earmarked R E TA I L A group of landlords representing 113 Movie for closure prior to the bankruptcy filing. Gallery mall locations has filed a motion seeking to halt the “Any store closing that is entered by the court should bankrupt No. 2 video rental chain from not apply retroactively to any closliquidating more than 500 stores. ings that were in progress on the Dothan, Ala.-based Gallery, which petition date,” the complaint read. operates 4,200 stores, Oct. 16 filed The plaintiffs contend Gallery can Chapter 11 bankruptcy citing debts of use unrestricted terminology on more than $1.4 billion and assets of store closing ads and window dress$890 million. ing in violation of lease guidelines. The landlords filed the motion after Store locations are also permitted to the bankruptcy court approved Gallery’s operate during business hours that immediate request to accelerate store Gallery — not the landlords — see fit. closures and start lease auctions. A hearing on the motion has not The motion, filed in U.S. Bankruptbeen set. cy Court in Virginia, claims landlords A Gallery representative, includaffected by closures have 10 days to A shuttered Hollywood Video store ing legal counsel, was not immedicontest the actions. ately available for comment. Landlords contend the bankruptcy court allowed Separately, a company specializing in the sale of credGallery principals to “write themselves a free pass to it derivatives Oct. 23 said it successfully auctioned a cash conduct [closures] however they see fit.” settlement on interest payments for Gallery first-lien The motion seeks to allow leaseholders enough time bondholders. to challenge store closures in addition to providing them The auction, which generated 91.5% of the asking with unspecified protection and due process. price, was triggered Sept. 10 when Gallery failed to make It also alleges Gallery is using court approval to cir- an interest payment on existing loans. Shareholders Approve Image Merger By Erik Gruenwedel S U P P L I E R Image Entertainment shareholders voted to approve the acquisition of the DVD distributor by BTP Acquisition Company LLC. Image shareholders will receive $4.68 per share in cash without interest, which represents 94% of outstanding stock in the pre-merger company. Stockholders retain a 6% interest in the post-merger (new) company. The deal represented an amended version of the original bid that offered Image shareholders 5% in the new company. Film financier and producer David Bergstein led the investor group that acquired Image in March for $95 million in cash. The deal included assumption of a $9 million replication advance from Sonopress LLC and the repayment of about $24 million of debt. The total value of the deal amounted to $132 million. “Today’s stockholder approval clearly demonstrates the recognition and the benefits of this merger,” said Martin Greenwald, Image CEO, president and chairman. The merger is slated to close Nov. 6. I SONY, PAPA JOHN’S TEAM FOR ‘SPIDER-MAN 3’ PROMO Papa John’s Pizza and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are partnering to offer a Super-Hero XL3 pizza from Papa John’s in conjunction with the Oct. 30 DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Spider-Man 3. The three-topping, extra-large 16-inch pizza ($12.99) comes in a box with images from Spider-Man 3, as well as a redeemable coupon for $3 off the SpiderMan 3 DVD. Other promotions are TV ads and limited-edition Spider-Man-themed Papa John’s gift cards. The two companies also will host a DVD launch event Oct. 29 in New York City. – Billy Gil I HIT INKS DEALS Britain’s HIT Entertainment reached a codevelopment deal with Korean animation studio SAMG and British production company Cocaban, and has secured new distribution deals with Animated Adventures & Pictures (AAP) and Spargo Productions. HIT will distribute “The Likeaballs,” for AAP. For Spargo, HIT will distribute “Willo the Wisp,” “Little Monsters” and “Microscopic Milton.” HIT’s new development deal revolves around “T5,” a children’s animation show. – Chris Tribbey Packaged Media Boosts Amazon Q3 Profit By Erik Gruenwedel R E TA I L A 38% increase in U.S. packaged-media sales helped Amazon.com post a big jump in Q3 profit. The company posted income of $80 million for the quarter (ended Sept. 30), versus income of $19 million during the same period last year. U.S. packaged-media sales totaled $1.08 billion. Domestic and Canadian packaged-media sales reached $785 million last year. Media products in- clude books, music, DVD/video, magazine subscriptions, software, video games and video game consoles. International media sales increased 33% (27% when adjusted for currency exchange) to $1.01 billion, from $757 million last year. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, said the company continues to be pleased with the early results from digital download service Unbox. “We’re seeing terrific feedback from customers,” he said. When asked about the impact of movie downloads on DVD sales, Bezos said there was no indication of cannibalization. “It is way too early to know whether you would see any of that,” he said. Worldwide revenue for the online retailer increased 41% to $3.26 billion, compared to $2.31 billion last year. North American revenue topped $1.79 billion, up 42% from last year. CIRCUIT CITY TESTS CONCEPT STORE By Erik Gruenwedel R E TA I L Circuit City Stores Inc. has begun testing concept stores aimed at enticing consumers with interactive displays, kiosks and a more hands-on retail experience. The No. 2 electronics retailer is keen to circumvent the fiscal challenges that beset Tower Records and Video, Musicland and most recently Movie Gallery. Named ‘The City,’ Circuit City reportedly opened the first test store in Norfolk, Va., last summer with plans to open a second in its corporate hometown of Richmond next month. A company spokesperson said previous guidance for store openings was on hold following the appointment of a new CFO. Company officials had said they planned to include the concept stores in about 50% of the 150 new stores planned for the current 2008 fiscal year and fiscal 2009, which begins next March. Circuit City lost more than $117 million in Q1 and Q2 of fiscal 2008, compared to profit of more than $16 million during the same periods last year, due to declining music CD, sluggish DVD sales and lower-than-expected margins on HDTVs for the shortfalls. ‘BLADE RUNNER: FINAL CUT’ GETS THEATRICAL RUN A new DVD version of the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner will be shown in theaters in select cities through January 2008. Warner Home Video releases the remastered Blade Runner: The Final Cut, featuring scenes not included in previous versions of the film, on DVD Dec. 18. The limited theatrical run began Oct. 5 in New York and Los Angeles. Engagements expanded Oct. 26 in Seattle; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Salt Lake City. The film opens Nov. 2 in Chicago; Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Baltimore, with more cities to follow. The cast and filmmakers will attend a red carpet screening of the film Dec. 9 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles as part of the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival, which will honor director Ridley Scott and his crew with an award for the film’s restoration. – Billy Gil HIT THEATRICAL RELEASE TRENDS ON DVD Q4/FULL-YEAR COMPARISONS: 2004 - 2007* The question retailers and rentailers have to ask is: Which is better for business? Big films, but fewer in count, or more films, but with less of a theatrical impact? When you look at the films grossing in excess of $25 million in their domestic theatrical runs, you find 2007 was a sub-par year for numbers. There were just 93 this year, down from 105 last year (a drop in output of 11.4%). But when you look at box office performance, this year’s crop averages $10.7 million more per film, or a bump of 13.8%. The 2007 slate managed to eek out a small year-overyear gain with 12 fewer films. — Ralph Tribbey Fourth Quarter Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 Films 29 32 30 30 Box Office $3,214,856,208 $3,055,699,713 $3,338,415,800 $3,820,072,699 Average $110,857,111 $95,490,616 $111,280,527 $127,335,757 103 99 105 93 Entire year Films Box Office $8,385,511,342 $8,093,644,928 $8,138,755,633 $8,204,509,854 Average $81,412,731 $81,753,989 $77,511,958 $88,220,536 * Hit theatrical defined as having a box office gross of $25 million or greater. 2007 box office results are preliminary and are likely to increase slightly — results through Oct. 21, 2007 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Oct. 19, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through March 31, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,095+252 78,778+244 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Oct. 19 . . . . . Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD As of Week Ended Oct. 19 . . . . . Released 305 Scheduled 74 310 Scheduled 48 BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN Home Media Magazine October 28–November 3, 2007 hom102807_008.pgs 10.24.2007 22:24 ccoffey http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com

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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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