Home Media Magazine - July 6-12, 2008 - (Page 4)

NEWS BRIEFS I BORDERS.COM ADDS BAZAARVOICE CONTENT Borders.com will now feature Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews. The reviews from social commerce applications company Bazaarvoice can be viewed at www. borders.com/ratings or at in-store computer kiosks. – Billy Gil & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf in a research note increased the company’s stock valuation to $25 from $22 and upgraded the service’s stock status to “Hold” from “Under Perform” due in part to its ability to retain subscribers longer and reduce churn. – Erik Gruenwedel www.homemediamagazine.com Lionsgate Ups Reality TV DVD Fare By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER Lionsgate has inked a TV DVD deal with Comcast Entertainment Group for E! Entertainment, Style Network and G4 reality shows. The first show that Lionsgate will distribute under the deal is the Aug. 5 DVD release of E! Entertainment’s Sunset Tan: Season One. Other shows earmarked for Lionsgate to release on DVD include E!’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and “Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood.” Also coming to DVD is the Style Network’s “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane.” The TV programs are available through a first-look deal between Lionsgate and Comcast. “Cutting edge programs like these reflect our overall commitment to OSCILLOSCOPE RAMPS UP ITS DVD BUSINESS By Chris Tribbey I KIDS FIRST NAMES TOP 100 Kids First! has released its list of top 100 ﬁlms for children ages 2 to 18. Films were chosen with the criteria that there is no gratuitous violence or abuse, no inappropriate sexual behavior, no prejudice, no condescension toward children and no replicable unsafe behavior. Films from the list include Aladdin from Walt Disney Studios, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from MGM, and Field of Dreams from Universal Studios. – Billy Gil I FIRST RUN HAS NEW ARM First Run Features has a new nontheatrical/educational division it operates via its Web site at www.ﬁrstrunfeatures.com/educationalsales.html. – Kyra Kudick I CINEQUEST TO CAPITALIZE ON ‘X-FILES’ MOVIE Seeking to capitalize on excitement over the The X-Files: I Want to Believe theatrical ﬁlm, Cinequest Distribution is releasing a little-known Gillian Anderson movie. The Mighty Celt hits DVD July 15 and was nominated for four Irish Film and Television Awards and won one for Anderson as best international actress. – Thomas K. Arnold I ANALYSTS PUMP NETFLIX Netﬂix Inc. got a boost when Needham daring, original entertainment and are perfect additions to our everincreasing television library,” said Ron Schwartz, GM and EVP with Lionsgate. The studio said it generated double-digit growth in TV DVD from 2006 to 2007, much of it due to the success of “Weeds” on DVD. Lionsgate July 1 released season one of award-winning AMC series “Mad Men” on DVD, as well as Tyler Perry’s House of Payne Vol. 2. Catalog TV DVD fare includes “Will & Grace,” “The Dead Zone” and “Moonlighting,” among others. Once considered a burgeoning genre, TV DVD title growth has tapered off in recent years, but it still represented 9% of 2007’s DVD titles, according to The DVD Release Report. Oscilloscope Pictures, a New York-based independent founded by Beastie Boy and filmmaker Adam Yauch and former ThinkFilm VP David Fenkel, is beginning DVD production. The company, which will focus on music documentaries, has slated its first two DVD releases this winter. First up is Gunnin’ for That No. 1 Spot, followed by Flow, the company’s first acquisition. Flow, which premiered at Sundance, is a documentary by Irena Salina, who aims to make a case against privatizing the world’s water supply. Oscilloscope is aiming for five to seven theatrical releases a year, along with roughly a dozen DVD releases. “It’s not a new company. It’s been a production company for a number of years,” said Ian Stimler, who’s heading up sales for Oscilloscope. SUPPLIER MERCHANDISING PROJECTIONS Add ‘Vantage’ to Week’s Top DVDs By Kelly Burner Best Buy Vantage Point Sony; SRP $28.96 $34.95, $38.96 BD Target $16.99 $22.99 w/digital copy $29.99 Blu-ray Wal-Mart $16.97 $19.96 w/Air Force One $25.96 w/digital copy $29.96 Blu-ray Circuit City $14.99 $22.99 w/digital copy $27.99 Blu-ray Amazon.com $16.99 $22.99 w/digital copy $26.95 Blu-ray $16.99 $22.99 w/digital copy $29.99 Blu-ray Drillbit Taylor Paramount SRP $29.99, $39.99 BD $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $16.97 (unrated) $19.96 ‘PG-13’ $29.96 Blu-ray $19.99 $27.99 Blu-ray* $16.99 $27.95 Blu-ray Get Smart’s Bruce & Lloyd; Warner SRP $27.98, $35.99 BD $16.99 $22.99 w/bonus episodes $29.99 Blu-ray $17.99 $16.97 $29.96 Blu-ray $19.99 $29.99 Blu-ray* $16.99 $24.95 Blu-ray Mad Men: Season 1 Lionsgate SRP $49.98, $49.99 BD $32.99 $39.99 Blu-ray $34.99 $39.99 Blu-ray $31.87* $39.96 Blu-ray $34.99 $34.99 Blu-ray* $31.99 $32.95 Blu-ray * Online Only combined box office of $150 million hit shelves July 1 when three theatrical releases came to home video. The highest box office performer is the political thriller Vantage Point ($72.3 million), followed distantly by Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns ($42 million) and the Owen Wilson flick Drillbit Taylor ($32.9 million). Vantage Point boasts an ‘A’-list cast, an effective advertising campaign and a box office gross that’s quite hefty considering its mid-February release. With this kind of support, Vantage Point looks to land the top spots on both the national sales and rental charts in its opening week. With strong holdovers 10,000 B.C. and Fool’s Gold, it’s unlikely the other two new releases will break into the top three. Other titles that may pique consumers’ interest include Get Smart’s Bruce & Lloyd: Out of Control, a DTV title starring two characters from the recent Get Smart film; and Mad Men: Season One, a series about advertising execs in the 1960s. Out of Control should benefit from the popularity of Get Smart (which has grossed more than $77 million at the box office as of June 29) to find a spot among the top 10 sellers of the week. RANK TITLE STUDIO WEEKS ON CHART A A Coupon for a Digital Age By John Latchem ecent reports indicate many consumers are letting their digital converter government coupons lapse. The program lets consumers sign up for two $40 coupons to apply toward purchase of a converter box that will let analog TVs receive digital signals after the 2009 switchover. R 4 Most converter boxes, such as those at Best Buy, Radio Shack and Circuit City, run for about $60. Wal-Mart has one for about $50. The coupons are not gift cards, and only one coupon can be used per box. So perhaps consumers are buying one box for $10 to $20 of their own money, and tossing the other card, feeling they don’t need a second box. A survey of the major retailers also shows a growing Blu-ray footprint. Several Targets around Southern California now display an entire aisle of Blu-ray products (although clerks were clearing out TV DVD boxed sets to make room). The display includes an endcap with a Bluray player and a demo that pretty regularly slams DVD for lower quality (“Like driving a sports car in first gear.” Ouch!). PROJECTED TOP 3 SELLERS for Week Ending 7/6 1 2 3 Vantage Point 10,000 B.C. Fool’s Gold Sony Pictures New Warner Warner 2 3 PROJECTED TOP 3 RENTERS for Week Ending 7/6 1 2 3 Vantage Point 10,000 B.C. Fool’s Gold Sony Pictures New Warner Warner 2 3 Source: Home Media Research Home Media Magazine July 6–12, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://BORDERS.COM http://Borders.com http://www.borders.com/ratings http://www.borders.com/ratings http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/educationalsales.html http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/educationalsales.html http://Amazon.com

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Home Media Magazine - July 6-12, 2008 Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - July 6-12, 2008

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