Home Media Magazine - May 4-10, 2008 - (Page 26)

NEWS Paramount Unveils Blu Slate Warner’s Bewkes Touts VOD Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com first 2008 day-and-date Blu-ray release with the DVD June 24. Internationally, Paramount will follow Spiderwick with Blu-ray releases of Cloverfield and best-picture Oscar winner No Country for Old Men in August. Paramount is the last major studio to join Blu-ray’s ranks since Toshiba Corp. pulled the plug on HD DVD Feb. 19. Paramount and DreamWorks had released 29 titles on Bluray before deciding to back HD DVD exclusively Aug. 20, 2007. “Paramount Home Entertainment continues to focus on the consumer and to explore avenues that allow fans to get more out of their home entertainment experience,” said Kelley Avery, president of worldwide home entertainment for Paramount Pictures. “We will have a strong slate of titles for Blu-ray release throughout the year worldwide and are enthusiastic about expanding the format’s offerings for a broad consumer audience while delivering an experience that goes beyond what viewers love about DVD.” Bonus features for the Blu-ray editions include: I For Bee Movie, a pop-up “Barry’s Trivia Track,” a Build-A-Bee avatarcreation feature, changeable menus, alternate endings and lost scenes. I For Face/Off, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, an alternate ending and several commentaries. I For Next, several featurettes and an interview with Jessica Biel. I For Cloverfield, an exclusive, feature-length “Special Investigation Mode,” including added details about the film; a director’s commentary; several making-of featurettes; deleted scenes; and alternate endings with commentaries. I For There Will Be Blood, a featurette, deleted scenes and a slideshow with vintage photos set to the score of the film. I For The Spiderwick Chronicles, behind-the-scenes featurettes, an exploration of the Spiderwick world and a look inside the field guide of Arthur Spiderwick. Continued from page 1 using our position in the industry to lead this transition.” He said that by acting now, Warner would be able to establish a leadership position in VOD similar to its No. 1 ranking in DVD sales. “Based on our history in pioneering DVD sellthrough, we think moving first will also enable us to capture disproportionate VOD share on this move,” Bewkes said. “[That is] very good for the film company.” However, Peter Chernin, president and COO of News Corp., whose 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment division is involved in the VOD tests, said his studio wasn’t willing to commit to such a strategy. “We are not ready to say that we are going to do everything day-and-date,” Chernin said at a media summit in Beverly Hills, Calif. Apparently that doesn’t include Apple, which the next day announced that all the major studios, including Warner and Fox, would begin offering movies for sellthrough on iTunes the same day as their DVD release. Bewkes said Time Warner would sell its 84% stake in Time Warner Cable under the right circumstances, i.e. price. “We continue to be very optimistic on the prospects of the cable company and cable industry,” he said. “We just believe the two entities would ultimately be more valuable if separated rather than kept in the current structure.” The CEO said the company was working with the cable unit’s management to iron out details of a separation. It appears to be a good time for Time Warner to sell its cable stake considering first-quarter (which ended March 31) revenue for the unit increased $309 million to $4.2 billion, spurred by a $301 million rise in subscription revenue and a $99 million surge in video revenue, the latter largely through VOD price increases. Bewkes said the media giant had successfully transitioned New Line Pictures from a potential source of cost savings to a completely restructured entity. He said the studio would be run under the Warner Bros. corporate umbrella at a fraction of the previous costs. “We expect the reorganization will generate substantial cost savings, mostly because we will retain international rights and revenue improvements,” he said. Time Warner’s filmed-entertainment division reported $116 million in costs related to the New Line restructuring with estimates of another $20 million to $30 million in costs through the rest of the year. The division also recorded $50 million in charges related to films released in prior quarters. Without those charges, operating income before depreciation and amortization for filmed entertainment increased 19%. With the charges, operating income declined 25% ($60 million) to $183 million. Overall, filmed-entertainment revenue increased 4% ($97 million), to $2.8 billion, due to theatrical and DVD results for I Am Legend and carryover DVD sales from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, among other titles. Bewkes remained bullish on Blu-ray Disc and said he expects industry software sales to reach $1 billion this year, up from the company’s previous estimates of $700 million to $800 million. He said Warner Blu-ray movie sales had over-indexed relative to theatrical revenue when compared to other studios that release BD content. Finally, Time Warner reported first-quarter fiscal-2008 revenue of $11.4 billion, compared to $11.1 billion during the same period in the year prior. Net income for the period fell 36% to $771 million, compared to $1.2 billion the previous year. BRIEFS I WARNER INVESTIGATES DTV POSSIBILITIES FOR ‘GET SMART’ Warner Home Video is offering a directto-video extension of its Get Smart theatrical run (opening June 20) with a Blu-ray Disc and DVD release of Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd. Streeting July 1, just 10 days after Get Smart opens in theaters, the film follows the comedic adventures of Maxwell Smart’s techie sidekicks Bruce (Masi Oka of “Heroes” fame) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence from “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”). — Chris Tribbey JUST ANNOUNCED A Weekly Product Update* Disney also has acquired the rights to close approximately 98 Disney Stores in the Unit— Billy Gil ed States and two in Canada. I ‘SECRET’ DIRECTOR SUES The director of The Secret, a motivational DVD, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit seeking compensation and a share of the profits. Drew Heriot filed the suit April 21 in an Illinois federal court alleging The Secret executive producer Rhonda Byrne and a Chicago business conspired to deny him co-ownership and profits through a series of U.S. and foreign shell organizations. The complaint alleged Heriot created the structure of the DVD, conducted many of the interviews, worked on the screenplay, edited the film and directed the most important dramatic scenes. The suit seeks naming Heriot co-author of the project, full financial accounting of the DVD and book’s revenue, and a percentage of the profits. The Secret was released on DVD and — Erik Gruenwedel online in 2006. Vantage Point STREET DATE Superhero Movie BOX OFFICE (MILLIONS) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day TITLE PREBOOK GENRE PRICE Vantage Point 7/1 5/29 $72.3 Thriller DVD $28.96, BD $38.96 I PORCHLIGHT NABS KIDVID ‘BOOWA & KWALA’ PorchLight Home Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Australian and Asian children’s animation hit “Boowa & Kwala,” from Granada International. The preschool series is based on the Web site www.boowakwala.com, and directed by Xavier Picard (“The Littlest Pet Shop”). The — Chris Tribbey street date is Oct. 14. Sony Pictures. 2008. Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Sigourney Weaver. Eyewitness accounts help solve the mystery behind the assassination of the president of the United States. As a two-DVD set ($34.95) and the Blu-ray includes a digital copy. Also on UMD ($24.94). Superhero Movie 7/8 5/27 $25 Comedy DVD $29.95 Genius/Weinstein. 2008. Tracy Morgan, Leslie Nielsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher MacDonald, Keith David, Pamela Anderson. This comic book movie spoof follows the adventures of a high-school student after he is bitten by a mutated dragonfly. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day 8/19 7/15 $12 Comedy DVD $29.98 Universal. 2008. Amy Adams, Frances McDormand. An unemployed, middle-aged London governess finds new employment as a social secretary for an American actress and singer. Insanitarium 7/15 6/12 DTV Horror DVD $24.96 I DISNEY TAKES OVER NORTH AMERICAN DISNEY STORES The Walt Disney Co. has acquired the Disney Store Chain in North America, consisting of about 220 Disney Stores in the United States and Canada, from subsidiaries of The Children’s Place Retail Stores. The transaction consisted of an asset purchase by Disney’s subsidiaries through bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings of Hoop Retail Stores in Delaware and Canada. I REPORT: BALLET SUES PALM The New York City Ballet has filed suit against Palm Pictures over revenue generated from several workout DVDs released by the company in 2001 and 2003, and paired as a two-disc set in 2006, according to The Associated Press. A Palm representative did not return calls by press time. — Chris Tribbey Sony Pictures. 2008. Jesse Metcalfe, Kiele Sanchez, Kevin Sussman, Olivia Munn, Peter Stormare. A man cons his way into a mental hospital to help his sister escape and discovers the doctors are turning the patients into flesh-eating killers. Disfigured 7/29 6/17 DTV Drama DVD $24.95 Cinema Libre. 2008. Deidra Edwards, Staci Lawrence. An obese woman and a recovering anorexic woman meet and become friends at a Fat Acceptance Group. The film explores the social and emotional issues surrounding female body image. Risky Business: 25th Anniversary 9/16 8/12 Re-release Comedy DVD $19.96, BD $28.99 Warner. 1983. Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano. When his parents are out of town, a Chicago teen turns his house into a bordello to repair his father’s Porsche. * In order of box office, then prebook date Home Media Magazine May 4–10, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - May 4-10, 2008

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