Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - (Page 3) www.homemediamagazine.com MENU FROM THE EDITOR BY THOMAS K. ARNOLD, PUBLISHER www.homemediamagazine.com ‘Dark Knight’ Stands Up to Pressure PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Thomas K. Arnold EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Prange EDITORIAL Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angelique Flores Senior Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Gruenwedel Senior Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Tribbey Assistant Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Latchem Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Billy Gil, Kyra Kudick Contributors. . . . . . . . . John Gaudiosi, Anne Sherber, Fred Topel, Ralph Tribbey, Holly J. Wagner Interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laleh Ghalambor, Michael Lee T ART Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melbert Sebayan Graphic Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Park RESEARCH Market Research Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Burner ADVERTISING 800/338-6700, FAX 714/338-6712 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . John Boezinger 714/338-6704 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Savant 714/368-1020 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kurt Wohlman 714/338-6749 Business Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joni Wu Group Administrative Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Guerena For reprints, call 800-290-5460, ext. 100 or HomeMediaMagazine@reprintbuyer.com For direct-mail lists, call Ilene Schwartz, Kroll Direct, 216/371-1667 FAX 216/371-1669 ilene@krolldirect.com hat was a heavy weight the Wall Street Journal placed on all over the place. That’s why so many eyes are watching the sales Batman last week, proclaiming that the very future of performance of The Dark Knight, the year’s No. 1 movie. “Executives at Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. are mounting home entertainment hinged on the sales performance one of the largest marketing campaigns in the company’s history of the Caped Crusader’s latest DVD appearance. But in the end, Warner Home Video appears to have struck one of to sell the movie,” the article noted. “Adams Media Research forethe holiday season’s few home runs with The Dark Knight, and from casts that the movie will make about $282 million during its first three months of DVD and Blu-ray Disc release. Sales far below that what I hear, all of Hollywood is breathing a little easier now. figure could indicate that even the industry’s bigAh, the power of the press — particularly in gest hits are vulnerable to the recession.” a town such as Hollywood, where a famous IN THE END, WARNER How’s that for a little pressure? Even I was startsaying is, “Perception is reality.” And the per- HOME VIDEO APPEARS TO ception, created by a Wall Street Journal story HAVE STRUCK ONE OF THE ing to bite my nails Tuesday when I hadn’t heard headlined “Dark Knight DVD Promises to be HOLIDAY SEASON’S FEW from Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders, who’s quick to call when the news is good. a Bellwether,” sent a huge cloud of hysterical HOME RUNS WITH ‘THE While final sales figures won’t be out until suspense over our little corner of the universe. DARK KNIGHT.’ this week, reliable sources peg first-day sales “When the Warner Bros. film The Dark Knight shattered box office records this summer, it was hailed as a sign that of The Dark Knight at somewhere around 3 million units. “I saw Ron today, and he had this big smile on his face,” said Hollywood can repel an economic downturn,” it read. “But as that latest Batman installment is released on DVD Tuesday, it could show one studio president. “And I’m even getting e-mails from some of my top customers, telling me Dark Knight was on fire.” that Hollywood’s defenses against a recession are crumbling.” “So we can all sleep well tonight,” he continued, only halfThe article noted that with all the problems facing the studios — including the drying up of production capital sources due to the poor jokingly. “Our business has been saved.” economy and a threatened Screen Actors Guild strike — the fact that DVD sales are tracking 6% behind last year is sounding alarm bells Thomas K. Arnold’s e-mail address is tarnold@questex.com MARKETING Marketing Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kristina Kronenberg 714/338-6743 Marketing Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kaitlyn DeWaard IN THIS ISSUE DEC. 14-20, 2008 / VOL. 30 / NO. 50 Redbox keeps stocking Universal discs, despite its suit against the studio; Movie Gallery gets exclusive rights to Lile Entertainment; Image touts a big 2009. DIGITAL MEDIA Online Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Renee Rosado PRODUCTION Production Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonnie Ling Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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Ron Wright Sr. CIRCULATION For subscriptions, please go online to www.homemediamagazine.com For current single copy, back issues or CD-ROM, call 866/344-1315 or 847/763-9594 for outside the U.S. Audience Development Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . Debbie Gullian News ………………………… Daddy Yankee in Talento de Barrio Cine Mercado ………………… Time Warner president and CEO Glenn Britt says the recession could leave cable with fewer customers; Wal-Mart will sell the iPhone. BUSINESS QUESTEX MEDIA GROUP INC. President & CEO: Kerry C. Gumas; Executive Vice President & CFO: Tom Caridi; Executive Vice President: Robert S. Ingraham; Executive Vice President: Tony D’Avino; Executive Vice President, Corporate Development: Claudia Flowers; Executive Vice President: Jon Leibowitz; Vice President, Digital Media: Seth Nichols; Vice President, Human Resources: Diane Evans © 2008 Questex Media Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including by photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by Questex Media Group, Inc. for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923 phone: 978-750-8400 fax 978-750-4470; call for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. For those not registered with the CCC, send permission request in writing to questexpermissions@reprintbuyer.com or call 800-494-9051 ext. 100. Maya Entertainment releases its first Blu-ray Disc: Talento de Barrio, starring Daddy Yankee; Telemundo show outcome to be determined by Sprint users. WWW.HOMEMEDIAMAGAZINE.COM CALENDAR Reviews ………………………… 10 Should fans of the “Mummy” franchise excavate the offerings of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor? Does The Polar Express Presented in 3-D chug along nicely on Blu-ray? Put on by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the International CES serves the consumer electronics industry. Jan. 8-11 Las Vegas Convention Center/Las Vegas Hilton Sands Expo and Convention Center/The Venetian, Las Vegas Info: www.cesweb.org Research ……………………… 12 Buyers gave the royal treatment to Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, while renters desired Universal’s Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie. Printed in the U.S.A. I THE FUTURE OF PACKAGED MEDIA ‘09 The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), the Content Delivery and Storage Association (CDSA) and the Media-tech Association (MTA) team for an event on the packaged media supply chain. Hilton Los Angeles, Universal City, Calif. Info: www.futurepackagedmedia.com Top 20 DVD Sellers ……………………… 12 Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts ……… 14 Just Announced ……………… 18 Warner has plans for Nights in Rodanthe; Sony Pictures lets out Quarantine; Warner shows off Pride and Glory; Summit ignites Sex Drive. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor December 14–20, 2008 Home Media Magazine http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.cesweb.org http://www.futurepackagedmedia.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 Contents News News Cine Mercado Reviews Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - December 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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