The top news and charts for week ending April 14, 2008.
Studios switch to digital screeners Sony gives BD Live marketing slow start Mary Daily joins Fox marketing unit |
A Blue party Rhino threw a party recently at New York’s 3rd Street Theater to celebrate the release of Blue Man Group’s new How To Be A Megastar Live! combo DVD/CD. At the event were Blue Man Group co-founders Matt Goldman (l.) and Chris Wink (2nd from r.), Rhino Entertainment’s Christoph Buerger (2nd from l.) and Michael Kachko (c.) and Blue Man Group Records’ Seth Freed. Click for more industry photos. |
"ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "AMERICAN GANGSTER" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
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SWEETING: Taking the handcuffs off |
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RED STATE, BLUE STATE: Amazon.com joins HD DVD apology bandwagon |
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DISC DISH: American Idol DVD |
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DVDIALOG: A flawless film from Michael Radford |
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THE DOWN LOW: Unbox says “expect more” |
Studios switch to digital screeners
APRIL 11 | Studios are wielding a new weapon in the battle against piracy: digitally delivered film screeners. However, although stores believe something is better than nothing, many retailers believe they can’t get the full sense of a film by way of their relatively small computer screens.
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March retail sales up, but consumer electronics’ impact mixed
APRIL 11 | FROM TWICE: While national mass merchants and warehouse clubs all reported higher March sales, the impact of electronics and the early Easter date were mixed.
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Blockbuster will triple stores with Blu-ray
APRIL 10 | Blockbuster will almost triple the number of stores that carry Blu-ray discs and will add Blu-ray display kiosks to almost all of its U.S. company-owned stores in an effort to boost revenue from high-definition disc rentals.
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Movie Gallery reorganization plan confirmed by Court
APRIL 10 | The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., has confirmed Movie Gallery’s reorganization plan. The company expects to emerge from bankruptcy this quarter.
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Circuit City has Q4 operating loss on lower sales
APRIL 9 | Circuit City reported a fiscal fourth-quarter operating loss today, as weaker video-equipment sales offset revenue gains for flat-panel TVs and videogaming products. The company, which had a net profit on a tax benefit, said fiscal 2009 same-store sales will fall about 5%.
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IRS withdraws objection to Movie Gallery reorganization
APRIL 8 | The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn its objection to Movie Gallery’s reorganization plan, helping to pave the way for the plan to be confirmed April 9.
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EMA supports rejection of Minnesota videogame law
APRIL 8 | The following summarizes key government affairs activities during March of the Entertainment Merchants Assn.
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Schoonover welcomes sit-down with Wattles
APRIL 8 | FROM TWICE: Circuit City CEO Phil Schoonover has formally responded directly to activist investor Mark Wattles’ request for a sit-down.
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EMA to honor Begley with Humanitarian Award
APRIL 8 | Entertainment Merchants Assn. will present actor Ed Begley Jr. the Humanitarian Award at the upcoming Home Media Expo, which will be held June 24-26 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
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Web site relaunch lifts Virgin revenue
APRIL 7 | Virgin Megastores credited its recent Web site makeover for revenue gains in 2007.
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Borders improves interest rate on cash loan
APRIL 7 | Borders Group said today it secured a lower interest rate on a loan from its largest shareholder in an agreement that might make it easer for the retailer to be sold.
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Movie Gallery creditors approve reorganization plan
APRIL 7 | More than 90% of Movie Gallery's 1,500 creditors voted to approve of the chain's reorganization plan.
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Circuit City responds to Wattles
APRIL 7 | FROM TWICE: Circuit City’s lead director Mikael Salovaara has offered shareholder Mark Wattles of Wattles Capital Management a chance to meet with its board to discuss his views of the company. The offer follows a letter Wattles sent to the board on April 2.
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Studios switch to digital screeners
APRIL 11 | Studios are wielding a new weapon in the battle against piracy: digitally delivered film screeners. However, although stores believe something is better than nothing, many retailers believe they can’t get the full sense of a film by way of their relatively small computer screens.
Click for Full Story
Mary Daily joins Fox marketing unit
APRIL 11 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment named international executive Mary Daily its new executive VP of marketing for North America, focusing on building consumer adoption of Blu-ray and digital copies.
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Sam Raimi scares up new horror label
APRIL 11 | Spider-Man filmmaker Sam Raimi is swinging into the direct-to-DVD market with new label Ghost House Underground.
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New execs lay out Image turnaround plan
APRIL 9 | Image Entertainment is looking to reverse its fortunes in fiscal 2009, and during a Wednesday Webcast with analysts, new president David Borshell and new chief acquisitions officer Bill Bromiley sketched how they plan to do it.
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Navarre forecasts $7 million fiscal 2008 income
APRIL 9 | Navarre Corp. is projecting upbeat earnings for its just ended fiscal 2008 and forthcoming 2009.
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Image sues Relativity over 2006 distribution deal
APRIL 8 | Image Entertainment is suing Relativity Media over a 2006 DVD output agreement that was supposed to bring at least three films for Image DVD distribution in 2007, followed by as many as 20 films annually. Since 2006, Relativity has produced several movies, including 3:10 to Yuma and The Bank Job, but Lionsgate is overseeing theatrical and DVD distribution for both of them.
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Nim's Island passes Leatherheads
APRIL 8 | VARIETY BOX-OFFICE REPORT: Fox fantasy adventure Nim's Island jumped past George Clooney's Leatherheads for the second spot at the weekend box office, reversing Sunday's order of finish. Final figures released Monday showed Island nearly matching its Sunday estimate with $13.2 million.
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Disney acquires China’s GameStar
APRIL 8 | FROM VARIETY: Continuing its acquisition spree and making its first purchase in Asia, Disney Interactive Studios has acquired Chinese videogame developer GameStar.
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21 sacks Leatherheads
APRIL 7 | VARIETY BOX-OFFICE REPORT: Universal’s George Clooney-Renee Zellweger period screwball comedy Leatherheads was sacked at the weekend box office, losing out to Sony holdover 21 and all but tying with 20th Century Fox’s family adventure-fantasy Nim’s Island for the No. 2 spot.
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Warner Bros offers U.K. same-day DVD
APRIL 7 | FROM VARIETY: Warner Bros. will become the first studio in the U.K. to offer some of its movies on DVD and video-on-demand on the same day.
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Sony gives BD Live marketing slow start
APRIL 10 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is going to market its first BD Live, Web-enabled features slowly, as it gathers feedback from customers in order to refine future Web extras and promotional strategies.
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Blockbuster will triple stores with Blu-ray
APRIL 10 | Blockbuster will almost triple the number of stores that carry Blu-ray discs and will add Blu-ray display kiosks to almost all of its U.S. company-owned stores in an effort to boost revenue from high-definition disc rentals.
Click for Full Story
Gaming world will expand, virtually
APRIL 9 | More than a third of the Internet users who will sample virtual gaming within the next year will become weekly participants, feeding the growth of such titles as Linden Lab’s Second Life and Neopets.
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EMA supports rejection of Minnesota videogame law
APRIL 8 | The following summarizes key government affairs activities during March of the Entertainment Merchants Assn.
Click for Full Story
Disney acquires China’s GameStar
APRIL 8 | FROM VARIETY: Continuing its acquisition spree and making its first purchase in Asia, Disney Interactive Studios has acquired Chinese videogame developer GameStar.
Click for Full Story
Studios switch to digital screeners
APRIL 11 | Studios are wielding a new weapon in the battle against piracy: digitally delivered film screeners. However, although stores believe something is better than nothing, many retailers believe they can’t get the full sense of a film by way of their relatively small computer screens.
Click for Full Story
Warner Bros offers U.K. same-day DVD
APRIL 7 | FROM VARIETY: Warner Bros. will become the first studio in the U.K. to offer some of its movies on DVD and video-on-demand on the same day.
Click for Full Story
Studios switch to digital screeners
APRIL 11 | Studios are wielding a new weapon in the battle against piracy: digitally delivered film screeners. However, although stores believe something is better than nothing, many retailers believe they can’t get the full sense of a film by way of their relatively small computer screens.
Click for Full Story
3D TV: Already in your home
APRIL 11 | FROM VARIETY: Flat-panel TVs from Samsung and some other manufacturers can already display 3D (with glasses required), though they're not yet touting the feature. And Blu-ray discs are capable of 3D.
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