All right, class. Here's a fine example of two groups striving for optimum leverage.
Walt Disney Pictures' decision to accelerate the release of its upcoming 3-D film "Alice in Wonderland" on DVD has sparked a revolt among movie theater owners in Europe.
Major chains in Great Britain and the Netherlands have threatened to boycott the movie when it hits theaters March 5, a move that could cut into box office revenues ...
Theater owners in Italy and other European countries are mulling similar action, said Westrate. Some European exhibition executives complained that, unlike their counterparts in the U.S., they were not consulted by Disney executives until recently.
The Big Mouse appears to have itself a problem.
If it goes ahead with its narrowed theatrical window, it might push more DVDs out the door, but it risks killing theatrical grosses. Whatever is a conglomerate to do?
Disney Distribution President Bob Chapek has been in London since last week meeting with exhibitors in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
I hope Bob is good at tap dancing, because he's going to have to entertain (and soothe) a lot of ticked-off European theater owners. But the question remains, who's going to blink first?
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20 comments:
All that for a film that wasn't even SHOT in 3D!
Imagine, we're going to be asked to pay MORE MONEY for a film that is 30% less bright than a real movie, with crappy glasses.
And it's not even REAL 3D.
REVOLT!!!!
Why not just keep it in Theatres AND put it out on DVD/BluRay early. Then people can go check it out in theatre, decide if they like it, and then go buy it.
Everyone gets paid, billionaires make more billions and everyone goes home happy.
Disney has had an obsession with "limited-time theatrical engagements" for their 3-D movies ever since they crammed girls into theaters who thought they'd only have one week to see Miley Cyrus--
Ever since then, Toy Story was "limited", X-Games was "limited", IIRC Christmas Carol was going to be "limited"...
This one may have been "limited" just for DVD sales, but think the in-house novelty for one of their favorite release gimmicks has just suddenly worn off.
They want to make people pay MORE money to see a film in "fake 3D," then rush it into homes and charge money where people CAN'T watch it in fake 3D?
People have just finished buying new TV equipment, and with the bush economic debacle continuing, sales of 3D tv's are sure to tank.
Not that many will be able to see it, but Disney has announced that it plans to release Alice in Wonderland in Blu-ray 3D this year as well as Toy Story 3 with A Christmas Carol coming first, so Alice probably won't be until Q4 anyway.
I personally don't see what the big uproar is. Using Christmas Carol as an example: shaving 3 weeks off if its 13 week domestic run would result in the theaters losing $230,000, or 0.1% of it's total take.
As another example let's look at Monsters Vs. Aliens which was also a March release. If you cut it from 22 weeks all the way down to 12 weeks the theaters would lose $3.1 million, or 1.5% of it's total take. I think it's safe to say that most movies make 99% of their money in the first 12 weeks.
And that would only be if theaters decided to pull the movie from their screens after 12 weeks when the movie is released on DVD. Theaters still have the option of showing the movie.
They'd be smarter to keep their 3-D's IN theaters, since most suburban plexes now keep one screen permanently reserved for 3-D projections, and keep it filled with whatever happens to be out at the moment until the next one shows up.
Which is one reason Monsters, Ice Age3 and Cloudy/Meatballs hung around theatrical runs as unusually long as they did.
9/11 didn't happen.
It was a big conspiracy hoax they rendered at Weta Digital.
DAMN those Kiwis!!!!
Now you're gonna tell us that W was just Weta's first attempt at motion capture for Gollum...
How did a discussion on Disney and European theaters turn into a Bush and Obama bashing session? Last I checked neither Bush nor Obama work for either Disney or a European theater company.
I just don't monitor the Bush and Obama trolls as closely as I should. My bad.
You missed one.
Because that one was actually fuunny.gestence
Update: 2 of the 3 major theater chains in the U.K. have reached agreements with Disney. The 3rd and largest group, Odeon, is continuing with the boycott of Alice in Wonderland.
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