Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008 - (Page 12)

HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com Bond Going Blu MGM and Fox have six films slated for high-def By Thomas K. Arnold ne of the biggest movie franchises is coming to Blu-ray Disc. MGM, through distributor 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, is readying six James Bond films for worldwide release on BD, and plans to ultimately bring all 20 films in its franchise library to Blu-ray Disc. The six films, including the first two installments in the franchise, 1962’s Dr. No and 1963’s From Russia With Love, bow Oct. 21. That’s less than three weeks before the theatrical opening of the 22nd and latest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. The 21st film in the Studio Reps Say Industry United Behind Blu-ray By Chris Tribbey ENTURY CITY, Calif. — With the high-def format war over, the studios are still united behind one purpose: the advancement of Blu-ray Disc. Retailers are beefing up Blu-ray displays, studios are experimenting more with BD Live-enabled discs, and the industry is aiming for a giant fourth quarter for high-def. A sticker advertising the PlayStation 3 on a Warner Home Video product tells you all you need to know. “It is a unique time,” said Mike Takac, SVP of domestic field sales for Warner Home Video, at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy June 17. If success means advertising an- O franchise, 2006’s Casino Royale, debuted on BD in March 2007 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and remains one of the format’s single biggest sellers. “With Quantum of Solace on the horizon, Bond fever is building once again, and there is no better time to reintroduce these beloved films,” said Eric Doctorow, worldwide GM for MGM Home Entertainment. In addition to Dr. No and From Russia With Love, the first wave of six James Bond films includes 1965’s Thunderball; 1973’s Live and Let Die; 1981’s For Your Eyes Only; and 2002’s Die Another Day. C other company’s hardware, so be it. At least for now. “The studios, because the war is over, will start going it alone a little bit more,” said Marshall Forster, senior EVP of North America for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The studios and Blu-ray have plenty of competition already — satisfaction with DVD, for one. “We don’t want to cannibalize our standard-definition space,” Takac said of the retail DVD departments. “It is a dual focus. We have to recognize that the DVD market is huge.” While DVD is still the studios’ No. 1 source of revenue, Forster predicted that Blu-ray would make up half of See STUDIOS, Page 31 WARNER EYES WINTER HOLIDAYS FOR RELEASE OF TITLES WITH BD LIVE By Erik Gruenwedel W arner Bros. is looking to launch Web-enabled Blu-ray titles with BD Live as early as the winter holidays, according to a senior official. In a keynote address June 18 at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy conference, Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner Bros. Technical Operations, said the unnamed titles will include real-time viewing, library tools, a search engine, a recommendation tool with e-mail reminders, ringtones and wallpapers. See WARNER, Page 31 Die Another Day DVD HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT: WESTERN EUROPE Source: Future Source Consulting Installed Base (Million Units) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Year 1 Year 2 2007 = 3.03 1998 = 0.30 10M European BD Players by Year’s End By Erik Gruenwedel ales of Blu-ray Disc players, including Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 with a BD drive, in Western Europe should reach 10 million units by the end of the year, according to a new report. Futuresource Consulting, the London-based research company derived through the recent merger of Understanding & Solutions and Decision Tree Consulting, in a report said the unit sales S Year 3 2008 = 10.48 1999 = 1.58 Year 4 2009 = 19.70 2000 = 5.64 Year 5 2010 = 31.39 2001 = 17.08 Year 6 2011 = 45.42 2002 = 37.51 Total BD I 2006 = 0.01 Total DVD I 1997 = 0.05 — three years after the launch of Blu-ray — surpassed standard DVD, which it said recorded 1.5 million unit sales during the same initial time period. The findings mirror separate data from Media Control GfK International, a German-based media market research firm that said global Blu-ray sales would reach $1.5 billion this year, $4.1 billion in 2009 and $8 billion in 2010. “The early indications are that BD player sales are running way ahead of DVD after the same time period,” said Jim Bottoms, managing director, corporate development, Futuresource. Bottoms said the timing of the PlayStation 3 launch coupled with attractive game launches (Grand Theft Auto IV) and console price drops contributed to the uptick in Blu-ray activity. Ultimately, Bottoms sees Bluray becoming the player of choice as unit prices fall. TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended June 15, 2008 LABEL INDEX TOP 20 HIGH-DEF B D M A R K E T S HA R E Percentage of Sales Per Title vs DVD Week ended June 15, 2008 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU-R AY D I S C C O M I NG U P STREETING Persepolis Sony Pictures Street Date: 6/24 The Spiderwick Chronicles Paramount Street Date: 6/24 Step Into Liquid Lionsgate Street Date: 6/24 ZZ Top: Live From Texas Eagle Rock Street Date: 6/24 PREBOOKING Harold and Kumar Escape New Line Pre: 6/24, Street: 7/29 Never Back Down Summit Pre: 6/24, Street: 7/29 Starship Troopers 3: Marauder Sony Pictures Pre: 6/26, Street: 8/5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Jumper The Bucket List National Treasure: Book of Secrets I Am Legend Rambo Cloverfield Blade Runner: Complete Collector’s Edition Semi-Pro Planet Earth: The Complete Series 300 There Will Be Blood The Other Boleyn Girl Weeds: Season Three Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Casino Royale Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the … National Treasure No Country for Old Men Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End The Fifth Element Fox Warner Disney Warner Lionsgate Paramount Warner Warner BBC Video Warner Paramount Sony Pictures Lionsgate Disney Sony Pictures Disney Disney Disney/Miramax Disney Sony Pictures 100.00 31.75 22.89 21.83 17.62 15.51 13.49 12.22 10.01 9.82 9.12 9.08 8.78 7.67 7.24 7.14 6.08 5.91 5.31 5.30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Blade Runner: Complete Collector’s Edition The Fifth Element Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the… Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Cloverfield There Will Be Blood I Am Legend 300 Planet Earth: The Complete Series Weeds: Season Three Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End No Country for Old Men Rambo Casino Royale Jumper National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Semi-Pro The Other Boleyn Girl The Bucket List Warner Sony Pictures Disney Disney Paramount Paramount Warner Warner BBC Video Lionsgate Disney Disney/Miramax Lionsgate Sony Pictures Fox Disney Disney Warner Sony Pictures Warner 69.54% 64.73% 58.35% 40.77% 33.62% 27.07% 23.11% 18.29% 17.08% 16.29% 14.57% 14.08% 13.53% 12.58% 10.93% 8.08% 7.26% 5.93% 3.66% 3.05% Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 12 Home Media Magazine June 22–28, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008

Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008 Contents News In Focus TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.