Home Media Magazine - August 31 - September 6, 2008 - (Page 24) NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com MGM Plans Pricey Boxed Sets By Billy Gil PRODUCT MGM Home Entertainment, distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, has two huge sets this holiday season: Hollywood Musicals Collection, a 61-disc set ($499.98), and Pink Panther Ultimate Collection, an 18-disc set ($199.98). Hollywood Musicals Collection, due Nov. 11 (prebook Oct. 15), houses 50 films from the golden age of musical theater to modern classics. Titles Disney on BD Continued from page 1 include West Side Story and Moulin Rouge!; new-to-DVD films Goldwyn Follies, Kid Millions and Whoopee!; and anniversary editions of Carousel; New York, New York; Oklahoma!; The Sound of Music; State Fair; The King and I; and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This set also includes postcard reproductions of the original theatrical one-sheets for the films. Pink Panther Ultimate Collection is due Nov. 25 (prebook Oct. 29) and gathers for the first time major liveaction and animated releases associated with “The Pink Panther” franchise. The set has the eight original Pink Panther films, including the collector’s edition of the 1964 The Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers, with 60 minutes of never-released footage; the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin; nine cartoon selections, including the Oscar-winning “The Pink Phink” as well as the only two programs in which the panther speaks; and the coffee table book Pink Panther, the Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town! by Jerry Beck. Chris Franchino, associate director of MGM marketing, said both sets were driven by the success of last year’s UA 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection, released by Fox and MGM, with 90 movies. “We’re trying to make these ultimate gifts,” he said. Digital Copy Gets a Boost from DVD, BD Continued from page 1 DVD and Blu-ray releases in Q4. “We believe this logo will allow consumers to easily identify which products on DVD and Blu-ray Disc have the added value of a digital copy,” said Ron Sanders, president of DEG and of Warner Home Video. Industry experts say digital copy provides no direct incremental revenue to studios, and instead is seen as an extended bonus feature designed to bolster a title’s re-release and create viewing options for new releases. “Digital copy is viewed more as an indirect financial benefit to the studios that might be expected to draw the type of fans that like to re-play a movie across multiple platforms,” said Douglas Dixon, consultant with Manifest Technology. “It’s also an attempt by the studios to reduce piracy by offering a free, legitimate alternative that’s still wrapped with DRM to prevent further copying.” Rob Enderle, analyst with Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif., said digital copy could impact movie download sites by implying a value-add to packaged media in the consumer’s mind. “It will change the dynamic a bit, but it doesn’t address the primary value of downloads, which is videoon-demand,” he said. “You don’t have to get in the car to buy it.” Enderle said the studios should have bowed digital copy sooner. “Now, the studios have a much better argument against piracy in the courts,” he said. “And it’s better business.” Digital copy was jump-started in January with the Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Fox continues to outpace all studios with digital copy and Sept. 23 will re-release 20 catalog titles on DVD ($19.98 each) with digital versions, including Napoleon Dynamite, Office Space, Grandma’s Boy, There’s Something About Mary, Dodgeball, Super Troopers, The Day After Tomorrow, Die Hard, Fantastic Four, Hide & Seek, Independence Day, Speed, The Transporter, the “X-Men” films and I, Robot. The studio’s previous digital copy releases on home video include Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (DVD, Blu-ray), Hitman (DVD), Jumper (DVD, Blu-ray), Juno (DVD, Blu-ray), Live Free or Die Hard (DVD with Windows Mediacompatible digital copy), Street Kings (DVD, Bluray) and What Happens in Vegas (DVD, Blu-ray). “Our research shows that when given the option, consumers recognize the value proposition that digital copy provides as a simple, fast way to move content to a portable device,” said Mary Daily, EVP of North America marketing for Fox Home Entertainment. But Fox isn’t the only studio on the digital copy bandwagon. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nov. 25 bows Hancock on DVD with a digital copy and, in a first for the studio, on Blu-ray with a digital copy. Sony’s digital copy, which is not compatible with a Mac or iPod, is included with previous DVD releases of such titles as Vantage Point: Special Edition, Impact Point, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, 21, as well as some catalog fare. Future releases such as Made of Honor and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan also will include digital copies. Rich Marty, VP of new business development for the studio, said consumer response to previous Sony digital copy releases prompted additional titles in the fourth quarter. “We’re seeing accelerated redemptions as the feature is becoming more familiar to the consumer,” Marty said. He said digital copy demonstrates the flexibility of packaged media and how it can adapt to consumer trends. “It’s another great feature to reinvigorate the packaged-media business,” Marty said. Universal Studios Home entertainment released American Gangster (HD DVD) and deluxe DVD editions of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns with digital copy. The studio plans to include an electronic file with future new and catalog DVD and Bluray releases such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, Wanted and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, according to spokesperson Lea Porteneuve. Anchor Bay Entertainment Oct. 28 releases Dead Space: Downfall on DVD ($26.97) and the distributor’s first Blu-ray ($34.98) with a digital copy. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Aug. 26 re-released The Nightmare Before Christmas on DVD and Blu-ray as a collector’s edition with the studio’s first title with digital copy, which it calls “Disneyfile.” Future releases with digital copy include DVD and Blu-ray editions of Wall-E Nov. 18 and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Dec. 2. Lionsgate released Rambo, The Eye, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns and The Bank Job with digital editions on DVD and Blu-ray; on Sept. 8 it will do the same with Forbidden Kingdom. Curt Marvis, president of digital media at Lionsgate, said consumers don’t see a rigid demarcation line between packaged media and digital. He said digital copy offers consumers versatility while supporting retailers and the home entertainment business. Warner Home Video last year offered so-called “e-copies” of Superman Returns, Blood Diamond, 300 and Ocean’s Thirteen with the standard DVD, which required submitting a coupon and an additional charge for the Web-based download. This year, the studio offered digital copies with certain DVD versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I Am Legend. Other titles include Harold & Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay on DVD (with coupon) and Blu-ray, Lost Boys: The Tribe on DVD and Blu-ray, and 10,000 B.C. on Blu-ray. Future releases with digital copy include Speed Racer Sept. 16 (DVD, Blu-ray); Sex and the City (DVD, Blu-ray) and Run Fatboy Run (Bluray) Sept. 23; and Fred Clause (DVD, Blu-ray) Nov. 25. L ATE F L AS H ES I MACROVISION HAS MEDIA RECOGNITION SOFTWARE Macrovision Solutions, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company devoted to digital media management, has a new version of its LASSO media recognition software. The enhanced software lets devices such as MP3 players, mobile phones, DVD players and CD players access Macrovision’s AMG database of movie and music information. The software will let consumers identify DVD and CD information from UPC barcode numbers as well as to search additional information, such as more movies with similar elements, on CE devices embedded with the software. — Billy Gil Each will be available for a limited time in new multidisc sets featuring hours of bonus materials and rare behind-the-scenes footage. Disney is launching its Platinum Collection line on Blu-ray Disc with Sleeping Beauty, which bows Oct. 7. “The landscape for the Blu-ray format is very healthy,” said Bob Chapek, worldwide president of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. “We believe that the enhanced movie experiences that the format provides, such as Disney’s BD Live network, offer consumers the chance to reinvent the experience of watching movies in their homes. And the interactivity and connectivity that is being provided will truly make the family room relevant again.” Disney is launching its BD Live network, which offers a variety of Webenabled features such as chat rooms and video messaging, in the United States only with Sleeping Beauty. The network will go live worldwide in fall 2009 with Snow White. Of the five new Blu-ray Disc releases, Pinocchio will be first out of the gate, coming in spring 2009. Snow White is next, followed in 2010 by Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. In conjunction with these releases, Disney will issue Destino, the unfinished animated feature film created by Walt Disney and famed surrealist painter Salvador Dali. Begun in 1946, the rare film was rediscovered in 2003 and completed by Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy E. Disney. Bringing up the rear is Beauty and the Beast, the only animated film ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. The film will be available as a Blu-ray Disc Platinum Collection release in fall 2010. Similarly to the “Godfather” trilogy, hitting Blu-ray Disc Sept. 23, only two years after Blu-ray’s launch, the Disney classics are coming to Blu-ray fast. Titles such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were originally released on DVD in 2001 and 2003, respectively, years after DVD’s launch in 1997. A Disney representative said the Platinum Editions will likely be available on DVD as well, although no specific plans have been announced. Additionally, Disne http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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