The top news and charts for week ending November 12, 2007.
Several retailers offer aggressive Black Friday sales Blockbuster to broaden entertainment reach HD DVD set-top player $99 sales moves units |
A Mighty event Angelina Jolie chats with film critic Peter Hammond at Paramount’s Nov. 4 screening of A Mighty Heart on the studio’s lot. See more industry photos. |
"SPIDER-MAN 3" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "SPIDER-MAN 3" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "TRANSFORMERS" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "SPIDER-MAN 3" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
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SWEETING: Contract talks |
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BETWEEN THE LINES: Expectations management |
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RED STATE, BLUE STATE: Consumer Reports can’t decide either |
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DISC DISH: The Invasion DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray |
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DVDIALOG: Pixar busted! |
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THE DOWN LOW: Qflix becoming industry standard |
Ed Burns releases Purple Violets on iTunes
NOV. 9 | Filmmaker Ed Burns will release his latest self-directed and -produced project, Purple Violets, exclusively on Apple’s iTunes Store Nov. 20.
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Several retailers offer aggressive Black Friday sales
NOV. 9 | Retailers are expanding Black Friday beyond its traditional one-day sale to offer holiday clearance discounts before and after the day after Thanksgiving and including such new product categories as high-definition players and titles.
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Trans World considers becoming private company
NOV. 9 | Trans World Entertainment’s board of directors is exploring taking the retail chain private.
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Blockbuster to broaden entertainment reach
NOV. 9 | Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes yesterday laid out for analysts the company's new strategy to improve its performance by refocusing on its 20 million in-store customers, updating its image from one associated with DVD rental to become a broader entertainment brand and better executing its Total Access mail subscription service.
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Blockbuster makes DVDs searchable on Facebook
NOV. 8 | Blockbuster is using a new application called "Movie Clique" to allow Facebook users to search through Blockbuster's library of movie titles, create lists of movies they want to see and share movie ratings and reviews with other Facebook users.
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Movie Gallery clears objections from landlords
NOV. 6 | Movie Gallery has resolved objections that landlords had made regarding its plans to auction off more than 500 leases on stores the chain is closing and the procedures involved in closing those stores.
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Ed Burns releases Purple Violets on iTunes
NOV. 9 | Filmmaker Ed Burns will release his latest self-directed and -produced project, Purple Violets, exclusively on Apple’s iTunes Store Nov. 20.
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New Line pushes King of Kong for Oscar
NOV. 9 | New Line is positioning arcade documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters as a contender for a Best Documentary Oscar, streeting the title on Jan. 29, days after the 2007 Academy Award nominations are unveiled on Jan. 22.
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TV on DVD helps lift Disney fiscal Q4
NOV. 8 | Sales of hot TV DVD releases of ABC series Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Lost helped net income for The Walt Disney Co. surged 12% in the company’s fiscal 2007 fourth quarter.
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Warner Premiere finds its Cinderella
NOV. 8 | Warner Premiere has started production on made-for-DVD Another Cinderella Story, a teen romantic comedy starring Disney Channel talent Selena Gomez.
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Shrek characters in HD DVD promotion
NOV. 8 | About a week after Blu-ray Disc backers debuted a $30 million media blitz, Toshiba and DreamWorks Animation have jointly launched a campaign in support of the Nov. 13 bow of Shrek the Third on HD DVD.
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Warner buys maker of LEGO Star Wars games
NOV. 8 | Deepening its commitment to growing its gaming category, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has agreed to acquire TT Games, the U.K.-based publisher of Bionicle Heroes and the LEGO Star Wars series.
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Image, Criterion extend distribution deal to 2013
NOV. 8 | Image Entertainment has extended its North American output agreement with the Criterion Collection through July 31, 2013.
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Spidey 3 top Blu-ray seller for Sony
NOV. 7 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Spider-Man 3 swung to the top of the studio’s Blu-ray roster, selling 130,000 high-def units in its first six days on shelves, according to the studio. The studio shipped about 400,000 Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray units to retail for the title’s Oct. 30 bow, said Sony, making first-week sell-off about 30%. Sony said that does not include units bundled with the new $399 PlayStation 3.
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Navarre in red for fiscal Q2
NOV. 7 | Citing retail consolidation and DVD sales softness, Navarre fell into red ink for its second quarter of fiscal 2008. Navarre posted a $400,000 net loss for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares to the $1.6 million net gain Navarre tallied for the same 2007 fiscal year period.
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Warner pacts for Paramount/DreamWorks distribution in China
NOV. 7 | Warner Home Video has struck further studio alliances in its efforts to combat piracy in China, agreeing to distribute Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation DVDs in the country.
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Theatrical, DVD lifts News Corp. operating income 23%
NOV. 7 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment parent News Corp. reported a 23% increase in operating income in the quarter ended Sept. 30, boosted by surging income in its film properties and home entertainment segments. Film Entertainment Division operating income grew 51% over the prior year to $362 million, driven by the theatrical success of The Simpsons Movie and Live Free or Die Hard (pictured).
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Film, DVD up 33% at Time Warner in Q3
NOV. 7 | Although Time Warner enjoyed higher revenue in nearly all business segments, including its film and DVD unit, soft AOL earnings curbed earnings in the third quarter. Time Warner’s filmed entertainment division revenue lifted 33% to $3.2 billion. The quarter’s top title was Warner’s 300.
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Acorn hires new president, chief financial officer
NOV. 7 | Independent DVD supplier Acorn Media Group has hired Bruce Belliveau as chief financial officer and Mark Stevens as president, replacing John Lorenz who was promoted to vice chairman.
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WGA strike could go into 2008
NOV. 7 | FROM VARIETY: Back-channel efforts have resumed to avert what's now looking like a long and painful work stoppage. But those moves aren't gaining much traction amid continued hardline public stances by both the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.
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Image, BTP extend merger date
NOV. 6 | Image Entertainment and BTP Acquisition Company have extended the closing date on the companies’ merger to allow time for Image to file its 10-Q financial statement.
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Macrovision acquires All Media Guide
NOV. 6 | Data security specialist Macrovision has agreed to buy All Media Guide Holdings, a private company that owns content-recognition software to identify millions of songs and videos on the Internet. The deal, which is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, is worth $82 million.
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Bewkes named CEO of Time Warner
NOV. 5 | Jeff Bewkes has been named CEO at Time Warner, succeeding Dick Parsons, who will stay on as the company’s chairman of the board.
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Genius closes $50 million credit facility
NOV. 5 | Genius Products LLC has closed a $50 million amended and restated credit facility with Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking and Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank.
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WGA formally goes on strike
NOV. 5 | Despite withdrawing its demand for higher DVD residuals, members of the Writers Guild of America formally went on strike Monday morning. The WGA had been negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on a new contract through Sunday, days after their current contract expired on Oct. 31, in the hopes of averting a strike.
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Transformers boosts Viacom
NOV. 4 | FROM VARIETY: Hit pic Transformers powered Viacom’s profit and yanked its film biz into the black last quarter. Home video sales grew 39% to $457 million.
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Image family shares Hoffman title
NOV. 2 | Illustrating synergy between newly combined units, Image Entertainment has acquired domestic home entertainment, TV and digital rights to Philip Seymour Hoffman drama Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead from Capitol Films.
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Shrek characters in HD DVD promotion
NOV. 8 | About a week after Blu-ray Disc backers debuted a $30 million media blitz, Toshiba and DreamWorks Animation have jointly launched a campaign in support of the Nov. 13 bow of Shrek the Third on HD DVD.
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Spidey 3 top Blu-ray seller for Sony
NOV. 7 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Spider-Man 3 swung to the top of the studio’s Blu-ray roster, selling 130,000 high-def units in its first six days on shelves, according to the studio. The studio shipped about 400,000 Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray units to retail for the title’s Oct. 30 bow, said Sony, making first-week sell-off about 30%. Sony said that does not include units bundled with the new $399 PlayStation 3.
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HD DVD set-top player $99 sales moves units
NOV. 6 | The HD DVD format significantly pumped its installed base over the weekend, as dueling store clearances sold an estimated 90,000 Toshiba players for as low as $99, according to sources close to retailers.
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GTA maker settles lawsuit
NOV. 9 | FROM VARIETY: Take Two Interactive is spending up to $2.75 million to make the headaches from an unlockable sex scene in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas go away.
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Warner buys maker of LEGO Star Wars games
NOV. 8 | Deepening its commitment to growing its gaming category, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has agreed to acquire TT Games, the U.K.-based publisher of Bionicle Heroes and the LEGO Star Wars series.
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Guitar Hero III rocks out in sales
NOV. 6 | FROM VARIETY: Activision's videogame Guitar Hero III grossed over $100 million in its first seven days on sale in North America. That appears to make it the second biggest videogame of the year, far behind Microsoft's Halo 3.
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Ed Burns releases Purple Violets on iTunes
NOV. 9 | Filmmaker Ed Burns will release his latest self-directed and -produced project, Purple Violets, exclusively on Apple’s iTunes Store Nov. 20.
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PBS signs download deals with BitTorrent, Vuze
NOV. 8 | FROM B&C: PBS signed new online deals for its TV shows with BitTorrent and Vuze.
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Studios' digital dilemma
NOV. 7 | FROM VARIETY: When Ed Burns' Purple Violets appears on the virtual shelves of the iTunes Store later this month, it will mark the first direct-to-digital release of a movie on Apple's online marketplace.
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CinemaNow, Sonic offer CSS-enabled burning
NOV. 6 | Video download service CinemaNow and Sonic Solutions on Tuesday will announce a deal to bundle access to CinemaNow’s library of movie and TV content with Sonic’s Roxio Venue download management software. The deal between CinemaNow and Sonic will mark the first major consumer application of CSS-enabled burning.
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Xbox Live to sport ESPN content
NOV. 4 | FROM VARIETY: ESPN is the latest media company bringing its content to the mostly young male audience of Microsoft's Xbox Live.
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CinemaNow, Sonic offer CSS-enabled burning
NOV. 6 | Video download service CinemaNow and Sonic Solutions on Tuesday will announce a deal to bundle access to CinemaNow’s library of movie and TV content with Sonic’s Roxio Venue download management software. The deal between CinemaNow and Sonic will mark the first major consumer application of CSS-enabled burning.
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