Anyone heard this yet? A home entertainement editor at Variety, Scott Hettrick, says a Marvel Studios exec is considering approaching Disney with his next big idea. What idea? A live action film released direct to DVD. How is that new? Because he's talking about a full budget of $60 million or more and charging a premium price ($40 or so) for the DVD of a film that hasn't been shown in theatres.
On the positive side....
* $39.99 for the whole family to see premier in own home
* No movie theatre agony, crying babies and annoying patrons
* Fewer marketing and distribution costs
On the negative side...
* No movie theatre experience, giant screen, and explosive sound
* $40 is about twice what we pay now to wait for the DVD
* Straight-to-DVD has a stigma
* If the idea took off, it would cripple theatres
I can't imagine standing in line at Best Buy to wait for the release of a film anymore than I can fathom the logic behind sleeping on the sidewalk for the opening of Return of the Sith.
Is this the future of movies? The small screen? What would it do to DVD sales? I'm just not movie-savvy enough to speak intelligently about whether this idea has merit. But, I think it's a worthy experiment.
3 comments:
I for one would not like to pay $40 for a single DVD. Usually I need to see a movie first, either on the big screen or rental (sometimes TV) then if I like it I might buy the DVD.
I'll pay $40 for a season of my favorite tv show or for a boxed set, like the original Star Wars Trilogy, but not for a single DVD.
What if you paid that price and the movie was really bad? Or if you just didn't like it? Then you'd be upset that you wasted your money. Of course you could resell the now used DVD on ebay or something, but certainly wouldn't get back your original purchase price.
I think it's easier to drop $10 or $20 for a dvd then it would be to pay $40.
BTW thanks for visiting my little slice of blog heaven!!
A flag went up in my brain as soon as I began to read this. It is a HUGE pet peeve of mine to see movies that are meant to be seen in the theaters on my miniscule tv. Even if it is a movie that I don't particularly want to see, I'll go see on the big screen.
"King Kong" for example. It's probably a good movie, but not something I would overly enjoy seeing (not a big CGI action movie remake fan. But I would enjoy seeing it less went it comes out on DVD.
Thanks for visiting!!
I think instead we will also see direct to specialty channel releases coinciding with the dvd release: Big Budget Disney Movie released to stores Tues, that night it is playing all day on Channel 475
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