Angels & Demons on DVD, VOD same day
DIGITAL: Sony gives four fourth-quarter titles simultaneous release
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 10/8/2009
OCT. 8 | DIGITAL: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will give Angels & Demons, its biggest fourth-quarter title, and three other holiday titles a day-and-date release on video-on-demand and DVD.
Angels & Demons is being advertised as $4.99 on Amazon Video On Demand.
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (out Nov. 3), The Ugly Truth (Nov. 10) and Julie & Julia (Dec. 8) also will get simultaneous VOD and DVD releases, Sony confirmed.
A Sony spokesman said the simultaneous releases are part of a test with “participating retailers.” He declined to name cable outlets or digital retailers that would get the film day-and-date. Angels & Demons and Pelham are being advertised on Amazon.com Video On Demand. ITunes, Comcast and other sites didn’t list VOD release dates for the titles as of Thursday. However, iTunes lists the digital release of Julie & Julia as Dec. 8, the same day as its DVD bow.
Sony has only released one other film day-and-date on VOD and DVD, Obsessed in August. Last month, the studio said it planned four additional simultaneous releases in the fourth quarter.
Angels & Demons, a follow up to mega-hit The Da Vinci Code, took in $133 million at the box office and could be the biggest fourth-quarter film to go day-and-date on VOD. Julie & Julia grossed $90 million, Ugly Truth $88 million and Pelham $65 million.
Nearly every major studio appears to be testing different VOD windows this fourth quarter.
Warner Home Video, which has been releasing most of its films day-and-date for the last two years, will delay the VOD release of two of its biggest Q4 titles. Both Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Hangover will debut on VOD one week after DVD.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will debut Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on VOD a week after its Oct. 27 DVD debut and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian on VOD nine days after DVD.
Sony will allow VOD viewers of its four day-and-date releases an extended 48-hour viewing period to watch the films, longer than the standard 24-hour viewing period for VOD.
Pelham and Angels & Demons are being advertised for $4.99 on Amazon, representing a $1 premium on the price charged for most new releases on VOD.
