Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008 - (Page 6)

NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com DVD Revenue Is Down at Viacom Blockbuster Makes Indy Run By Erik Gruenwedel MARKETING Blockbuster Inc. through May 25 is barnstorming select cities showcasing the ª #26 Team Indiana Jones Presented by Blockbusterº Indy racecar driven by Marco Andretti. The promotion, co-sponsored by Lucasfilm Ltd., is in advance of the May 22 theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, from Paramount Pictures and directed by Steven Spielberg. Andretti, who is the grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti and son of 1991 IndyCar World Series Champion Michael Andretti, will drive the car May 25 in the Indianapolis 500. Dallas-based Blockbuster is using the car sponsorship throughout the year for select theatrical and rental releases. ª Racing is a great way for us to get our brand in front of thousands of loyal fans who love to be entertained, either by the thrill of the race or by the silver screen,º said David Podeschi, SVP of Blockbuster. HD REPLICATION UP, DVD DOWN AT CINRAM By Erik Gruenwedel Paramount Home Entertainment May 13 is releasing Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection DVD boxed set featuring the three original films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The studio also released re-edited installments of George Lucas' defunct TV series ª The Young Indiana Jones Chroniclesº for DVD. The car appeared May 6 in Phoenix and in Denver May 9. Subsequent appearances include Dallas (May 11), Chicago (May 14), Detroit (May 15), Philadelphia (May 17), New York (May 18) and Indianapolis (May 21). The tour began May 2 at a Blockbuster store in Los Angeles, followed by stops in Las Vegas. Separately, Blockbuster is offering targeted consumers a used copy of American Gangster and a free month trial membership with a paid subscription to online rental, in-store return service Total Access. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman By Chris Tribbey SUPPLIER DVD revenue was slightly made special mention of both his down for Paramount Home Entertain- company' s new VOD and TV distribument, mostly due to a decline in catalog tion venture with MGM and Lionsgate, sales, parent company Viacom report- and the iTunes day-and-date electronic sellthrough of movies with DVD. ed in its first-quarter 2008 earnings. ª There is product available from mulStill, HD DVD payments goosed home entertainment revenue overall. tiple studios for the pay-TV window, an ª Home entertainment revenue in- opportunity that will not be replicated for many years,º he creased $89 milsaid. ª We now have lion, or 22%, versus «THE OTHER STUDIOS the chance to reinvent the first quarter of HAD NOT AGREED TO this window.º 2007,º said Viacom DISTRIBUTE CURRENT ForiTunes,Dauman CFO Thomas E. RELEASES ON ITUNES Dooley. ª However, BECAUSE [OF] PRICING.» said that the studios needed to find the the quarter included PHILIPPE DAUMAN right price point with a new home video distribution agreement that required Apple for new releases ($14.99). ª The other studios had not agreed to gross revenue treatment and $29 million of revenue recognized in connec- distribute current releases on iTunes tion with the conclusion of our HD because their terms had to be negotiated so that the pricing would be DVD agreement. ª Home entertainment revenue would consistent with the pricing that we have been down slightly if those items use for DVDs that we sell to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and other outlets,º he said. were not included in the quarter.º Theatrical revenue dropped 7% to He said pricing had to be consistent with DVD. $247 million. Cinram International Income Fund reported $4.3 million in high-definition replication revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to $1.9 million during the prior-year period. The Toronto-based replication company included both HD DVD and Blu-ray in the high-def revenue. However, DVD replication revenue dropped nearly 26% to $180 million, from $242 million last year, due largely to lower volumes and prices. The company replicated 262 million DVDs in the period, down 14% from 305 million units in fiscal 2007. CEO David Rubenstein said the quarterly results were in line with expectations. ª We were up against an unusually strong comparable period,º Rubenstein said. Home video represented 61% of Cinram' s revenue, compared to 69% during the prior-year period. Some of the slack was taken by video game replication, which generated nearly $22 million and 5% of total revenue. Overall, revenue topped $406 million, down nearly 9% from $444 million last year. BRIEFS I REDBOX TO GO PUBLIC Redbox plans to go public. The Illinoisbased DVD rental kiosk operator announced it will go forward with an initial public offering of common stock ª subject to market conditionsº some time in May. The kiosk operator, owned by McDonald' s and Coinstar, aims to have more than 10,000 of its DVD rental machines in supermarkets and restaurants by the end of the year, thanks recently to agreements with Wal-Mart ± Chris Tribbey and Walgreens. ment will become the ﬁrst major U.S. studio to release DVDs in Vietnam. The studio has partnered with Vietnamese company Galaxy Studio for distribution in the country. Releases begin May 9, 2008, with a group of 15 titles, including Casino Royale, Surf' s Up and the ª Spider-Manº franchise. Future plans call for the release of approximately ﬁve to 10 DVD titles per month and the eventual launch of Blu-ray Disc releases. The deal ª represents the industry' s ﬁrst major step in developing this untapped market,º said T. Paul Miller, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment' s SVP, international. ± Stephanie Prange Starz Aligns Overture With Anchor Bay By John Latchem SUPPLIER Anchor Bay Entertainment is being put under the same management as motion picture studio Overture Films. Anchor Bay and Overture are both units of Starz, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. Anchor Bay had been part of Starz Media, the company' s television production, syndication and animation unit. Under the new structure, Anchor Bay president Bill Clark will report to Chris McGurk, Overture Films' CEO. ª As Anchor Bay gets more deeply involved with distributing motion pictures in home entertainment Ð both its own and those produced by Overture Ð it made sense to have it become part of the motion picture studio rather than remain in the television division,º said Starz LLC chairman and CEO Robert B. Clasen. ª This change will allow closer coordination on marketing and promotion for the Overture theatrical films and provide Overture' s expertise to help market and promote Anchor Bay' s specialty product.º Anchor Bay is a DVD distributor of multiple genres including children' s, fitness, horror, theatrical and classic television. Recent efforts involved producing and acquiring its own movies for limited theatrical runs and home video release, including The Grand, with Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano and Cheryl Hines; and Sex and Death 101, starring Winona Ryder, Simon Baker and Patton Oswalt. In addition, Anchor Bay will be the domestic home video distributor for Overture Films, starting with the May 13 DVD release of Mad Money, starring Queen Latifah, Diane Ke- aton and Katie Holmes. ª This new structure better aligns Anchor Bay' s growing and diverse home entertainment product lineup with Overture' s high-profile theatrical business,º Clark said. Overture Films will remain an independent film studio with the financial and distribution support of a fully integrated media company behind it, Clasen said. Lightning Strikes Up By John Latchem SUPPLIER Lightning Entertainment Group, which also runs Lightning Home Entertainment and international sales unit Lightning Entertainment, has launched Lighting Media to acquire and distribute product. Acquired content will be distributed theatrically, as well as through DVD, television, cable, on-demand and digital delivery platforms in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Lightning Media has secured a multiplatform distribution deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment, which will distribute up to 12 titles per year over the next two years. The first titles include the mixed martial arts feature The Scorpion and the 2007 theatri- I ` GTA' TOPS $500M IN FIRST WEEK Take-Two Interactive Software reported that its Grand Theft Auto IV video game has shattered records for ﬁrst-day and ﬁrst-week sales of an entertainment product. The game sold 3.6 million units globally its ﬁrst day, bringing in about $310 million, and 6 million units globally its ﬁrst week, for an estimated retail value of more than $500 million, according to Take-Two. Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North for Microsoft' s Xbox 360 and Sony' s PlayStation 3 consoles, lets gamers play as an immigrant gangster who embarks on various criminal enterprises. ± John Latchem I WARNER GIVES TO CHARITY WITH ` DARFUR NOW' Slap a badge for social consciousness on Warner Home Video. The supplier is releasing the documentary Darfur Now May 27 at a suggested list price of just $4.99 and turning over a portion of the proceeds to Solar Cooker Project for the protection and empowerment of women in the warravaged region of Sudan. To top it off, the doc Ð which follows six individuals who traverse the globe with actor Don Cheadle to drum up support for the victims of the war Ð will come in packaging produced with 100% renewable resources. ± Thomas K. Arnold I SONY FIRST U.S. STUDIO TO RELEASE DVDS IN VIETNAM This month Sony Pictures Home Entertain- cally released comedy Tortilla Heaven, starring George Lopez. Lightning Media is headed by veteran distribution and acquisitions executive Paul Gardner, who serves as co-president with Rich Goldberg. Gardner previously served as president of Union Station Media Ð a joint venture between Arclight Films International and Alliance Films. Before that, he was an acquisitions executive for Artisan Entertainment and Lionsgate En http://www.homemediamagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008

Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008 Contents News News News News Commentary TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Christian Entertainment Review Contents Product Profile Talent Profile Retail Profile Reviews New Releases

Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 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.