Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Collapsing Release Windows

This is topic Collapsing Release Windows in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 10-29-2005, 12:57 PM:

Has anyone been following the controversy concerning the simultaneous DVD/Theatrical release of movies? Can you believe that this subject is even being discussed?

Apparently a few film companies are entertaining the idea of releasing films in theatres, on cable, and on DVD at the same time. NATO and a few select film directors have realized the potential implications of this and the devastation it will have on the exhibition industry. I have even heard that director M. Night Shamalyn (spelling?) spoke out against it at Showeast.

The root cause of this is corporatism. In the US most of the theatre chains are now by owned by giant conglomerations. Some of them own parts of cable companies, Internet companies, and various other entities. So the pursuit of the almighty dollar will prevail over showmanship and the 'magic' of the movie theatre.

What do you see in the future of the Theatre business?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-29-2005, 01:30 PM:

This has been thoroughly discussed before.

Each of the studios was given space in the newest Boxoffice magazine to speculate on the windows, future of the business, etc. and most of them acknowledge that the theatre industry is "the engine that pulls the train" and they have no plans to shrink the DVD window further. We'll see how that plays out.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 10-30-2005, 09:54 PM:

check here

and somewhat related, this thread

I'm sure there are others too...