Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: FOX pushes back Home Video release due to theaters' complaints

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 06-01-2003, 05:52 PM:

Finally, they spoke up! Let's see if more will listen...

Fox to Delay 'Idol' Film's Video Release
By Nicole Sperling

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The home video release of the upcoming "American Idol" movie spinoff "From Justin to Kelly" has been pushed back after numerous theater owners balked at the original street date, which was scheduled just six weeks after the theatrical debut on June 13.

Sources said the studio has moved the date back by about six weeks to early September, though representatives from Fox say no date has yet been set.

"As with all of our films, no home entertainment release date has been set prior to the opening in theaters," Fox Studios spokeswoman Flo Grace said.

Sources involved in the negotiations confirm that Fox had been fighting with several of the country's leading exhibitors, including Regal Entertainment Group, Loews Entertainment and National Amusements, who had threatened to not play the film if the timings between the release windows remained so tight.

The theater chains declined comment.

Release windows have been gradually closing for some time in the industry. According to numbers tracked by the National Association of Theater Owners, the average time between theatrical and home video release totaled five months and eight days for the industry this year, while last year's totals were five months and 12 days.

According to one studio executive who wished to remain anonymous, studios feel it is appropriate to tighten the windows, considering movies come off the screen quicker than they used to because of both the widened release schedules and the depth of product in the marketplace.

"DVD release windows have become as important as the theatrical releases," the executive said. "You can't automatically put it out six months later and miss the best windows, particularly when it comes to the holiday season. Now it's a much more strategic decision. Studios more and more are looking at DVD release dates in a competitive manner."

Sources in the industry recognize Fox's desire to shorten the window on "From Justin to Kelly," Rather than wait the three months or longer and risk losing the momentum created from the television show's massive popularity, the studio was looking to get the movie out to the home video market before the end of summer.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

=TMP=

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-01-2003, 06:01 PM:

Its about time the exhibitors started raising some hell about this. The movie studios are pulling all kinds of stunts to take away from commercial movie theater circuits. The short release windows between theatrical and DVD is one problem. The other is spamming many thousands of prints into circulation making movies play themselves out within only a couple weeks or so. That puts the commercial theaters at a disadvantage in the contracts for box office reciepts. In early weeks the studios get most of the money. Theaters only realize bigger returns when a movie has "legs". The studios only seem be amputating the legs off of many would-be blockbusters.

In the end, the studios could be strip-mining their own economy. What is a movie that doesn't have the prestige of playing in a commercial theater? A "straight-to-video" title. That has a very negative "made for TV" marketing tinge to it.

The movie industry overall will become much much smaller and lose billions if the commercial theaters are not around to make a movie release a REAL movie release. The studios had better start doing something to consider the interests of their first and quite arguably most important presentation venue for their product.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-02-2003, 01:15 AM:

Good for the exhibitors!
They probably don't see 7 days worth of business in this picture anyway, much less the 2-week minimum they'll probably have to accept. Somebody at Regal is probably thinking about all the no-show auditoriums they'll be dealing with chain-wide, without the added pressure of an early DVD release.

Posted by Joshua Tefay (Member # 1722) on 06-02-2003, 06:46 AM:

With such an abundance of product flooding into theatres its fairly obvious that it would be in the interests of the studios to churn these films through theatrical release, milk them quickly for as much return as they can achieve, and then ship them out to DVD release where they will generate even more income.

The gap between theatrical and home entertainment release has narrowed so much that many movies can be purchased on DVD online whilst they are still in theatrical release in Australia. (Sometimes even before hitting screens in Australian theatres.)

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-02-2003, 12:09 PM:

Gotta hurry up and get that DVD out before the opening weekend crowd tells the whole world the movie isn't any good. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-02-2003, 03:42 PM:

... all true. However, oversaturating the market with prints burns through the available audience during the first & second week, when the percentages paid to the studios are the highest... good for the studios... bad for the exhibitors. Crappy films at high percentages may not make the studios much... but it can put an auditorium in a money-losing position more quickly. Then, an exhibitor needs to hope he's got enough other films in the building that are doing enough business to make a profit and subsidize the square footage being paid to keep a losing picture.

It can't be any easier, knowing in advance you're probably not going to break even on the title.

I sure don't envy you people in Australia. That's gotta be tough. For that matter, maybe that's why they load on so much more advertising there..?

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 06-02-2003, 06:23 PM:

Now that the [bs]

has hit the fan Fox ought to cancel the theatrical release and send From Justin to Kelly direct to video in July.

"But the theatrical release is 11 days away!" you say.

So what? Prozac Nation was to have opened this Friday in NYC/LA but Miramax decided last week to delay that film again. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 06-02-2003, 07:54 PM:

Charles

They should just open it as planned and release on video on the same day. Lets go for a "Day and Date" release.
Warner did this with a film called "Hey, Good Lookin". It opened at the Mann's National Theatre in Westwood and came out on the same day on video.

Yes, Miramax is holding on to "Prozac Nation" for alittle longer. I ran it late last year. [Eek!]

Posted by Kris Brunton (Member # 432) on 06-03-2003, 10:38 AM:

6 Weeks isn't much of a lag time between theater to video at all. Good for the exhibitors!! [beer]

Posted by Jeff Stuckey (Member # 1718) on 06-03-2003, 01:22 PM:

Actually, Fox has now pushed the release date back one week. It's now coming out on June 20.

Posted by Joshua Tefay (Member # 1722) on 06-04-2003, 03:00 AM:

I guess one positive thing that has come out of shorter release windows is the greater occurrance of simultaneous worldwide releases. This is a good thing, especially for us people in Australia. Still, its usually only reserved for the biggest blockbusters!

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 06-04-2003, 05:13 AM:

why is this a good thing? i suppose the studios deem it necessary to prevent bootlegging, and to prevent people from telling their overseas friends that a film sucks before they have seen it. but for exhibitors and patrons this blitzkrieg mode of distribution seems like a very bad thing. high print runs demand high speed and minimal quality control. the studios try and get everyone out to see the films right away so business tapers quickly. so many prints coming and going means that theaters have a lot of build up and break down work, and corners get cut. the few films that actually have legs circulate in thrashed prints, while the rest are quickly and wastefully destroyed and a few years down the line are unavailable. why are we in such a hurry?

carl

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 06-22-2003, 11:57 AM:

From Justin to Kelly opened outside the weekend top 10 with an estimated $2.875M. Fox should have kept the video date for July.

Then again two Regals in Bucks County PA each opened 2 prints of this masterpiece. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-23-2003, 12:50 AM:

I heard one of those theatres was used for a premier, partly because Justin lives about 4 miles from the place.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 06-23-2003, 01:22 PM:

I wonder if he attended a regular screening to see how badly his movie is bombing and to witness the start of the end of his career firsthand. [evil]

=TMP=

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 06-23-2003, 09:26 PM:

Jack, speaking of advances, I had to carry a cashier's check for $20,000 and give it to NFS just to get the print of "Return of the Jedi" into the trunk of my car when it came out. We were forced to run it for 4 weeks, yet we still lost our butts on that one....

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-23-2003, 10:02 PM:

quote:
speaking of advances, I had to carry a cashier's check for $20,000

Ouch! Let's hope that print made you at least $33,000 in its first week! [Big Grin]

Of course, that wouldn't have happened if you had offered George 20% of your concession!

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 06-23-2003, 11:16 PM:

Jack, it didn't. [Frown]

Posted by Jeff Stuckey (Member # 1718) on 06-24-2003, 10:41 AM:

I know that they ran 2 prints of FJ2K in Burleson, Texas. Because that's where Kelly is from, and it's also the theater she used to work at. And, they had the premiere there.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-24-2003, 12:22 PM:

quote:
Jack, it didn't.

Yah... I'd have guessed that. [Mad]

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 06-25-2003, 02:54 PM:

So, is it available on video yet? [Big Grin]