The top news and charts for week ending May 2, 2008.
iTunes offering movie downloads on DVD street Music video sales grow in 2007 At IndieFest, VPD, studios help indie retailers |
First ever IndieFest West New Video retailer Darick Agudelo of Ocean View Video (l.) chats with Don Rood of VPD at the inaugural IndieFest West, held April 29-30 at Folsom, Calif. Click for more industry photos. |
"CLOVERFIELD" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "CLOVERFIELD" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "I AM LEGEND" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "AVP: REQUIEM" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
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SWEETING: Blu blues |
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BETWEEN THE LINES: Don’t let GTA IV run over ratings |
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RED STATE, BLUE STATE: Flowers and Blu for Mom |
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DISC DISH: Risky Business 25th Anniversary DVD, Blu-ray |
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DVDIALOG: Live from New York, it’s Season Three! |
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THE DOWN LOW: AT&T taking TV mobile |
Music video sales grow in 2007
MAY 2 | Packaged music video sales returned to growth in 2007, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America, following a dramatic decline in 2006.
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Blockbuster co-sponsors Indy race car
MAY 2 | Blockbuster and Lucasfilm are co-sponsoring an Indiana Jones race car, as part of an exclusive chain promotion fueling the franchise’s next May 22 theatrical installment.
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At IndieFest, VPD, studios help indie retailers
MAY 2 | FOLSOM, Calif.—During the first ever IndieFest West here this week, major studios and distributor VPD spent a day discussing with indie retailers how the stores can differentiate themselves from growing competition, including Netflix, video-on-demand services and kiosk rental machines.
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Movie Gallery to sell MovieBeam
MAY 2 | Movie Gallery has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., for permission to sell the MovieBeam set-top service, which the company shut down at the end of last year.
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Redbox to file for IPO
MAY 1 | Redbox, the DVD vending machine provider co-owned by McDonald’s and Coinstar, is hoping to become a publicly traded entity.
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Advocate for indie stores calls it quits after 24 years
MAY 1 | Rod Eglash and his family will close the doors of Milwaukee’s RSE Video Discount Superstore next month. In operation since 1985, RSE has seen a 10% drop in revenue each year for the last three years, to $350,000 annually.
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EMA to honor Cam Gigandet at Expo
APRIL 29 | Never Back Down star Cam Gigandet will be honored with the Rising Male Star of the Year award at the Entertainment Merchants Assn.’s Home Entertainment Awards ceremony, held June 24 as part of the Home Media Expo in Las Vegas.
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Consumers prefer gross for Day of the Dead packaging
APRIL 29 | Although several retailers were grossed out by the zombie-puking-eyeballs design of Day of the Dead, consumers widely embraced First Look Studios’ packaging. On street date, First Look sold through 40% of its initial shipment of the puking zombie copies and just 10% of the DVDs with tamer packaging.
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Blockbuster in talks to join Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM VOD channel
APRIL 29 | Blockbuster is in talks to invest in the premium video-on-demand movie channel being launched by Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.
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Circuit City further pressured to open books to Blockbuster
APRIL 29 | HBK Capital Management, Circuit City’s largest shareholder with a 9% stake, is urging the chain to open its books to Blockbuster for due diligence in the rental retailer’s takeover bid.
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IDEA names qualified board candidates
APRIL 28 | The Independent Dealers of Entertainment Assn. has named four qualified candidates for its 2008 election of the Board of Trustees.
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Blockbuster adds videogame, console sales
APRIL 28 | Within a day of two of the hottest games of the year due in stores, Blockbuster will begin selling videogames and game consoles in stores across the country as part of an effort to expand its game business.
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Sony to release DVDs to Vietnam
MAY 2 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will become the first major U.S. studio to release DVDs to the Vietnam market through its partnership with Galaxy Studio.
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Magnolia opens to sports with HDNet Fights line
MAY 1 | Magnolia Home Entertainment is jumping into the sports genre ring for the first time with HDNet Fights, making the supplier the latest contender in the competitive mixed martial arts category.
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Genius eliminates 32 staffers
APRIL 30 | Genius Products has undergone a “restructuring” that resulted in the elimination of 32 positions, or about 14% of the company’s staff.
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DVD boosts DreamWorks Animation Q1
APRIL 30 | Strong DVD sales on Bee Movie (pictured) and Shrek the Third boosted DreamWorks Animation earnings 69% in the first quarter, the company reported Tuesday. Since the March 11 release of Bee Movie, the company has shipped 4.8 million units of the title.
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Time Warner earnings fall 36%
APRIL 30 | FROM VARIETY: Time Warner reported earnings of $771 million in the first quarter, down 36% from $1.2 billion a year ago.
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Toho files suit against Cosmo
APRIL 30 | FROM VARIETY: TOKYO— Distrib Toho has filed a suit for ¥13.5 million ($130,000) against Cosmo for manufacturing and selling DVDs of three classic Toho pics without permission.
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Paramount goes Blu day-and-date with Spiderwick
APRIL 29 | The Spiderwick Chronicles will be Paramount Home Entertainment’s first title released simultaneously on DVD and Blu-ray Disc when it streets June 24. The studio previously supported the HD DVD format exclusively.
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Warner hires Vivendi Games exec to head Interactive Entertainment unit
APRIL 29 | Martin Tremblay has been named president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In his new role effective in June, Tremblay will oversee the publishing, marketing, sales, distribution and licensing of Warner’s interactive and gaming content.
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Blockbuster in talks to join Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM VOD channel
APRIL 29 | Blockbuster is in talks to invest in the premium video-on-demand movie channel being launched by Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.
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Chinese DVD pirate faces prison
APRIL 29 | FROM VARIETY: A Chinese court has jailed a Beijing man for selling pirated DVDs, making him the capital's first citizen to be imprisoned for intellectual property theft, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
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Image to distribute ProElite mixed martial arts DVDs
APRIL 28 | Image Entertainment has signed a multi-year output deal with mixed martial arts producer ProElite.
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China, Russia still a piracy threat
APRIL 28 | FROM VARIETY: Noting some progress made in protecting U.S. intellectual property rights around the world, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative nevertheless said the situation remains "serious" in China and Russia as well as seven other countries.
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Warner spies possible Sci buy
APRIL 28 | FROM VARIETY: In a move that could lead to its eventual purchase of the British videogame publisher, Warner Bros. has invested some $30 million to double its stake in Sci Entertainment to 20%. As part of the deal, Warner will also start distributing and marketing all of Sci's games, which are published under the Eidos brand, in the U.S. and Canada.
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Baby Mama tops box office
APRIL 28 | VARIETY BOX-OFFICE REPORT: Universal's Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy Baby Mama was easily the No. 1 movie of the weekend, grossing an estimated $18.3 million from 2,543 theaters and giving the studio its first top opener of the year. Comedy overall was the success story of the frame, fueling a box office rebound just as summer tentpoles prepare to open. Weekend grosses were up a sizable 17.2% over the same sesh last year.
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Blu-ray set-top player sales down since January
APRIL 30 | The end of the format war wasn’t enough to convince consumers to go Blu. In February, the same month that Blu-ray Disc won the high-definition war, Blu-ray set-top player sales dropped 40% from January, according to the latest numbers from the NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service.
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Paramount goes Blu day-and-date with Spiderwick
APRIL 29 | The Spiderwick Chronicles will be Paramount Home Entertainment’s first title released simultaneously on DVD and Blu-ray Disc when it streets June 24. The studio previously supported the HD DVD format exclusively.
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Cargo adopts Blu-ray for high-def makeup
APRIL 29 | You can either watch or wear Blu-ray, courtesy of a new Cargo cosmetic line.
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Blu-ray momentum slow, consumers wait for lower prices, better features
APRIL 29 | The Blu-ray Disc market will not gain serious momentum until the next 12 to 18 months, when more advanced players and cheaper hardware options become available in the format, according to ABI Research.
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Panasonic launches high-def, Blu-ray Olympics promotion
APRIL 29 | Panasonic will help Blu-ray Disc go for the gold in an Olympic Games 2008 marketing blitz.
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Grand Theft Auto IV set to break record
MAY 1 | No numbers have been released yet, but by all indications Grand Theft Auto IV will make history as the biggest launch of an entertainment property when publisher Take-Two Interactive discloses sales, as it is expected to do later this week or early next.
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Warner hires Vivendi Games exec to head Interactive Entertainment unit
APRIL 29 | Martin Tremblay has been named president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In his new role effective in June, Tremblay will oversee the publishing, marketing, sales, distribution and licensing of Warner’s interactive and gaming content.
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Blockbuster adds videogame, console sales
APRIL 28 | Within a day of two of the hottest games of the year due in stores, Blockbuster will begin selling videogames and game consoles in stores across the country as part of an effort to expand its game business.
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Warner spies possible Sci buy
APRIL 28 | FROM VARIETY: In a move that could lead to its eventual purchase of the British videogame publisher, Warner Bros. has invested some $30 million to double its stake in Sci Entertainment to 20%. As part of the deal, Warner will also start distributing and marketing all of Sci's games, which are published under the Eidos brand, in the U.S. and Canada.
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Movie Gallery to sell MovieBeam
MAY 2 | Movie Gallery has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., for permission to sell the MovieBeam set-top service, which the company shut down at the end of last year.
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iTunes offering movie downloads on DVD street
MAY 2 | Apple announced deals Thursday with every major studio to begin selling permanent new release downloads on iTunes at the same time as the film’s DVD release. Key to the breakthrough, studio sources said, was Apple’s willingness to pay wholesale costs in line with those of DVD.
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CinemaNow offers mobile phone services
APRIL 30 | CinemaNow has partnered with uVuMobile for a mobile version of CinemaNow's service that will allow customers to watch movie trailers and order full-length films through their phones.
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Blockbuster in talks to join Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM VOD channel
APRIL 29 | Blockbuster is in talks to invest in the premium video-on-demand movie channel being launched by Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.
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Older TV shows moving online
APRIL 28 | DVD may be where the revenue is, but a wave of TV shows, some never released on DVD, are starting to hit the Internet in bids to reach a migrating audience.
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Sezmi touts all-in-one box
MAY 1 | FROM VARIETY: Seeking to capitalize on the era of flux and consumer dissatisfaction with TV and home video offerings, a new company launching Thursday believes it has the next-gen solution.
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