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Topic: On Demand Video While Movie Is Still In Theatres Start Next Month

Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 04-01-2011 10:39 AM

Coming next month to a TV screen near you...

Variety Article

quote: Variety

WB, Sony, U and Fox cue premium VOD
'Unknown,' 'Just Go with It' expected to be offered for $30 next month

By Marc Graser

After talking to his pretend kids Kiki (Bailee Madison) and Bart (Griffin Gluck) Danny (Adam Sandler) tells them to start laughing and hug him as Palmer walks in, in Columbia Pictures' comedy JUST GO WITH IT.

"Unknown" and "Just Go With it" are among the first studio pics set to roll out as $30 early VOD offerings.
Hollywood has firmed up its plans to roll out premium VOD next month, though theater owners quickly protested the strategy.

Warner Bros., Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox are the first studios that have agreed to launch Home Premiere as the official brand under which the industry will offer up movies to rent for $30 two months after their theatrical bows for a viewing period of two to three days, depending on the distributor.

DirecTV will exclusively launch Home Premiere nationally to its nearly 20 million customers, while cablers including Comcast will introduce the service in certain cities for an undisclosed period of time some time around the end of this month.

As first reported on Variety.com, the first films expected to launch include Warner Bros.' actioner "Unknown" and Sony's Adam Sandler comedy "Just Go With It," sources close to the new service say.

The launch plans come months after studios started to float the idea to experiment with higher-priced rentals of pics closer to their theatrical runs as a way to boost their homevid operations with film campaigns still fresh in people's minds.

WB, U and Fox have already succeeded in fending off companies like Netflix and Redbox, forcing them to wait 28 days after a film bows on DVD to offer those titles for rent through their online services and kiosks. Those same studios wouldn't mind lengthening that window even longer and have considered pursuing such talks.

On the premium VOD front, the majors say they're missing out on audiences who aren't making the trip to the megaplex because of the size of their families or the expense of babysitters or of food and other concessions.

But exhibitors worry that allowing auds to watch family fare at home, even at a higher price point, may get them used to staying away from theaters over the long run. A statement released by the National Assn. of Theater Owners Thursday at CinemaCon accused the studios of compromising revenues for the entertainment biz, saying, "These plans fundamentally alter the economic relationship between exhibitors, filmmakers and producers, and the studios taking part in this misguided venture."

Studios contend that offering up films 60 days after their theatrical run won't hurt the box office since most films generate most of their coin during their first three months.

But NATO says studios "risk accelerating the already intense need to maximize revenues on every screen opening weekend and driving out films that need time to develop -- like many of the recent Academy Award-nominated pictures. They risk exacerbating the scourge of movie theft by delivering a pristine, high definition, digital copy to pirates months earlier than they had previously been available."

Paramount is not participating in the Home Premiere program, reportedly due to piracy concerns.

The majors also say they wouldn't release any films via Home Premiere that are still performing strongly at the B.O.

DVDs and Blu-rays typically bow 90 days after a pic's theatrical run, although that's been shrinking for higher-profile titles.

A specific launch date was not revealed for Home Premiere, but sources told Variety that it would occur at the end of April.

DirecTV has recently launched a more aggressive effort to encourage its customers to upgrade their set-top boxes to be able to connect to the Internet as it readies to launch Home Premiere.

Comcast, meanwhile, is eyeing Home Premiere as a way to bolster its pay TV market share through enhancements of its broadband-based Xfinity TV service.

DirecTV was initially targeting a trial launch this summer, during which "we'll try something that's four to six weeks from theatrical release," DirecTV chief Michael White said in February.

Studios have talked DirecTV into compromising to a longer release window since then. One reason: The major theater chains, including Regal Entertainment, have threatened not to screen films should they become available during a six-week window via premium VOD.

The Digital Entertainment Group, which helped Hollywood launch and brand Blu-ray, will assist in building the Home Premiere brand.

While the price is still too high for me as a single guy, if I had a family with concession munching kids, it would be a bargain.

Now I have a choice of watching first run digital video out, or at home. While at present time this is not going to be a monumental change, it is one more blow against the exhibition industry.

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Mike Frese
Master Film Handler

Posts: 465
From: Holts Summit, MO
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 04-01-2011 11:48 AM

Couple of thoughts:

a) At least in my area $30 is going to be a major hurdle.
b) Remember when the major chains complained about Disney releasing Alice In Wonderland 90 days after theatrical release? Just in the past month, there have been the following movies: Yogi Bear 95 days, Black Swan 116 days (102 since it went to 1500 locations), Tourist 102 days, How Do You Know 95 days, and Fighter 95 days (88 since it went wide). I have been surprised that little has been heard about this.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-01-2011 01:09 PM

Inch by inch the movie studios are trying to push movie theaters farther in trouble, not realizing there will be no movie industry without movie theaters.

Ask yourself this: would you be willing to pay $30 or even $5 to watch a made for TV movie via video on demand? I wouldn't.

The two month window between theatrical debut and this new premium VOD service may be enough for a lot of mainstream features. Not many movies continue to do decent business 2 months after theatrical release, particularly if the release is wide from the outset.

However, $30 isn't all that much for a PPV event if you consider how a lot of PPV events are watched: in groups. The average UFC PPV event costs around $60. No one I know just buys the PPV show just to watch it by himself. At least several other people show up and throw in a few bucks each or bring food/drinks or both.

It already costs a lot for an average sized family of four to attend a first run movie. The tickets alone are going to run upwards of $40 or significantly more if 3D is involved. Visit the snack counter and that cost can easily pass $60. For a lot of families a two month wait isn't a big hardship in order to save $30, particularly in the current environment of price gouging at gas pumps and grocery stores. I'm concerned the inflation going on in those and other areas will push more and more people into waiting for movies to arrive on home video or even Redbox.

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 04-01-2011 05:26 PM

What is wrong with waiting a couple of weeks longer and have the opportunity to purchase the same movies for as low as $19.99 like Blu-Ray of THE BLACK SAWN at Best Buy and other retailers was the other day? The maximum resolution one can expect from a pay per view showing is 720i instead of the full 1080p from a Blu-Ray disc. On top of that, you would only get standard 5.1 sound instead of full DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby Tru HD a Blu-Ray disc offers. . Unfortunately , most people with large families could care less about waiting for the BD and would subscribe. What worries me the most about ON DEMAND VIDEO is the studios would no longer release new movies within the approximate current three month time period on BD and DVD after a movie opens at a theatre but hold back release a lot longer after the ODV showings are over.

-Claude

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-01-2011 10:40 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
The two month window between theatrical debut and this new premium VOD service may be enough for a lot of mainstream features.

That's fine for a megaplex but it really puts the screws to places where the movie doesn't always play on the break. (Like ours.) Used to be we could say it was going to be 3 months or 4 months before the video release...now, when we play a movie in week 5 it'll be what, 3 weeks?

The other thing that's going to happen is, if this thing doesn't bring in enough "coin" to prop up the sagging DVD revenue, then they'll try to boost it by moving it up even closer to the theatrical release, thus screwing everybody even more. Then if that doesn't work, they'll just collapse the DVD/BR window "because that's what the consumer wants" and we'll all be toast.

I only hope that the studios will get off their butts and figure out why they can't make a movie available to small places for one week. That way we could play a new movie on the break every week, we'd sell far more tickets than we do now, and the studio would get a lot more money from us. But of course that plan is way too smart to ever happen.

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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover

Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 04-02-2011 01:33 AM

I don't think that this is a horrible idea. Movies only do well for the first 3-4 weeks anyway. Having a $30 rental right after two months will likely drive business to the theatre during the first few weeks.

If studios promote some movies as "In Theatres Apr 30 and On Demand June 29th" it will only add to the "I have to see it now" factor in my opinion.

What the AMC, Carmike, Regal ect need to do is get into the distribution of home video. Cineplex Odeon in Canada is renting movies online as well as showing them in theatres a few months before.

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Ian Parfrey
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1049
From: Imbil Australia 26 deg 27' 42.66" S 152 deg 42' 23.40" E
Registered: Feb 2009

posted 04-02-2011 04:16 AM

Bobby has nailed it.

I just can't wait for the idiot studios to start bitching about why all their new movies are doing death both at the Boxoffice AND for VOD. Think about this for one second... Without boxoffice buzz, the movie goer won't have a yard stick as to whether a film is shit or not. If that's the case then Mr MovieGoer sure isn't going to blow $30 on an unknown quantity an dthat equals no B.O and no VOD.

Just [sex]

ing stupid.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-02-2011 12:37 PM

Tom: You think this idea will make MORE people go to the movie in theatres in the first couple of weeks? You really are off your rocker.

Also, theatres distributing home video is not a new idea. It was tried during the VHS era. Everybody was being encouraged to put a big display of tapes in the lobby. Why? "What better place to promote movies than a movie theater!" Well, that flopped after about a year.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-02-2011 12:50 PM

Mike, since you went through the trouble and expense of converting your theater to digital projection and even adding Dolby 3D your movie theater should be getting any new release you want the very day the movie opens.

I can understand the reasoning behind making theaters in small towns wait an extra week or two (or months) to get a film print of a certain new release. Only so many 35mm prints were made for the inventory of a certain release.

With "digital" there is zero excuse. The DCP can be downloaded via satellite. Or it can be put on a hard drive and express mailed. Hard discs are very cheap compared to a 35mm film print.

Additionally, small towns in rural areas have next to nothing in terms of competing screens. You have to drive a considerable distance (usually to the next significant town or even farther) to find another theater. The way I see it movie distributors should be fighting over getting their movies to play on those rural screens, particularly the digital ones since there are so few of them at this point.

With this VOD nonsense Hollywood is pushing they will need to eliminate those wait times for rural theaters. Basically every commercial theater will need to be able to play a given movie on the break rather than later.

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Bill Enos
Film God

Posts: 2081
From: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-02-2011 03:49 PM

If you're running film continue to do so until no more prints
are available, then close. Being rid of theatrical exhibition is obviously what they want. If you've converted to digital, sell it now while there is still a market and go back to film for as long as it lasts. Meanwhile try to figure out what to do with the building other than a fire.

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Ian Parfrey
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1049
From: Imbil Australia 26 deg 27' 42.66" S 152 deg 42' 23.40" E
Registered: Feb 2009

posted 04-02-2011 04:15 PM

I've been squawking about this for ages. As far as exhibition and the studios are concerned, movie theatre (and Drive In) exhibition is just a big pain in the studios arses. The exhibs are seen as an unwanted drain on the takings from the studio product and if that part of the equation is eliminated then obviously that income automatically goes straight to the studios. And that's exactly what they want - no print costs, no theatre overheads, basically product delivered straight to the home and all revenue going straight to the studios.

I feel very sorry for those cinema operators who spent huge $ on the digi upgrades only to be shafted by the studios .. yet again.

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John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-02-2011 05:06 PM

Awhile ago, 6 months after release, then 90 days. Now 60 days.

What's next? 30 days, then day and date? How far are the exhibitors willing to let this go?

Can you spell B O Y C O T T???? If the exhibitors (both independents and chains) grew a set of balls and said they would only accept a clasue in the rental contract that stated "The studio agrees not to release the title to DVD for a period of 90 days" or they would not play the film, do you think that would shake the trees?

Probably not, because the exhibitors will just sit back and take what few crumbs the studios will give them.

Sad. But if the exhibitors do nothing, then they get what they deserve.

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Jonathan M. Crist
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 531
From: Hershey, PA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-02-2011 08:05 PM

quote: John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Can you spell B O Y C O T T????

Hey John: Dont you know that an organized boycott is a violation of federal anti-trust laws?

Besides it wont happen anyway. The studios know that "If you gottem by the balls their hearts and minds (and checkbooks) will follow"

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-02-2011 08:38 PM

Well guys...the problem is the film companies don't THINK they need us, even though we know they do. If we all said (at once) "we're not going to play your damn Harry Potter film if you put it on video in 60 days," they would say "Fine...it's going to video on July 15 then."

They know we need their product or we're screwed. That's why they have us by the balls.

quote: Bobby Henderson
Mike, since you went through the trouble and expense of converting your theater to digital projection and even adding Dolby 3D your movie theater should be getting any new release you want the very day the movie opens.

Bobby -- I totally agree with this. However, the studios are still operating on the exact same methods with digital as they did with film prints, meaning: There is a finite number of prints (no matter the format) available, and when those are committed, there are no more. If we don't play a movie on the break, we have to wait until some other town somewhere lets loose of a hard drive print. Just like it was with film. I agree, it's ridiculous and I've been repeating that scenario to everybody I've talked to who is working on conversion. Don't think that just because you're digital you can just get whatever you want.

To be fair, there have been a few occasions where we've been able to get prints a week or two sooner on digital than we would have on film, but those have been rare times.

My wife came up with a good idea. How about if the industry just decided to lower our prices? Why not? The film companies keep devaluing their product to the consumer, so why don't we do the same? Everybody goes to $5.00 a ticket, or something like that. No 3D surcharges either. We could trumpet that up with a massive ad campaign. The film companies would cry foul, but what could they do? Their contracts don't allow them to dictate ticket prices as long as we hit the minimum per cap. Our attendance would skyrocket and concession sales would be massive, while film rental payments would stay about the same. The only problem is, how to get the entire industry to do it at once?

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 04-02-2011 09:02 PM

quote: Jonathan M. Crist
Hey John: Dont you know that an organized boycott is a violation of federal anti-trust laws?

A boycott doesn't have to be organized for everyone to participate though.

There've been examples where several big chains refused to play a certain movie because they didn't like the terms of agreement. And it didn't happen because all those chains colluded to do it. They each announced separately that they wouldn't play ball. Sure, when one announced maybe another said "Hey, that sounds like a good idea" but that's different from breaking those laws.

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