More Articles By Susanne Ault
- Image to continue releasing ThinkFilm titles
FEB. 12 | Image Entertainment has won the ability to continue distributing ThinkFilm titles through its output agreement with label parent CT1 Holdings, even though the planned merger between Image and CT1 affiliate BTP Acquisition Co. has been dismantled. More - Image to distribute Celluloid Dreams films
FEB. 11 | Image Entertainment has signed a three-film distribution agreement with production company Celluloid Dreams, signaling it intends to conduct business as usual following the collapse of its merger with BTP Acquisition Co. More - Landmark gets jump on Last Emperor
FEB. 11 | Landmark Theatres visitors will be able to exclusively purchase Criterion Collection’s The Last Emperor for one week prior to its wide retail bow on Feb. 26. Streeting at the exhibitor’s 58 locations on Feb. 19, Landmark is pricing the title for $49.99. Criterion’s The Last Emperor spans four-discs and includes commentary by director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto. More - Best Buy to endorse Blu-ray over HD DVD
FEB. 11 | Leading high-def software retailer Best Buy starting in March will endorse Blu-ray Disc as the preferred high-def format. The retailer will give Blu-ray titles and hardware more prominence in stores and online through merchandising and signage. It also will shift most of its marketing support, including newspaper circulars, to Blu-ray said spokesman Brian Lucas. More - NPD: Intent-to-buy Blu-ray grows
FEB. 8 | Consumers are expressing more desire to purchase Blu-ray Disc players following Warner Bros. Entertainment’s swing to back that format exclusively, according to the NPD Group. Meanwhile, the research firm reports that interest in HD DVD players is flattening. More - Anchor Bay pitches high-profile releases
FEB. 8 | Anchor Bay Entertainment held its first-ever retail summit last month, hosting executives from Amazon, Blockbuster, Netflix, Trans World Entertainment and other major accounts in Santa Monica, Calif., for presentations of its newly high-profile schedule, including box-office fare from sister division Overture Films, such as current Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah comedy Mad Money . More - Allumination to distribute four Trifecta titles
FEB. 7 | Allumination Filmworks has signed onto a four-film output agreement with Trifecta Entertainment & Media LLC. More - DVD helps Time Warner 2007 earnings
FEB. 6 | Time Warner notched gains in its theatrical and DVD division but nevertheless reported mixed fourth-quarter and full year fiscal 2007 earnings due mostly to its suffering AOL business. More - Net income drops in Navarre fiscal Q3
FEB. 6 | Despite strengthening PC software and videogame operations, Navarre Corp. reported some slowdown in its fiscal 2008 third quarter. More - Warner celebrates 85th anniversary with retail event
FEB. 6 | Warner Home Video will mark the studio’s 85th anniversary with a yearlong retail event that includes nine catalog promotions, spanning 50 new to disc titles, and the release of You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story , a five-hour documentary produced by Richard Schickel and narrated by Clint Eastwood. Actor Warren Beatty (c.) attended a launch gala at the Warner lot, along with Best Buy's Marlys Thorson (r.) and Amazon.com Angela Langmann. More - Redbox kiosk drops R titles after complaints
FEB. 5 | Union City, Ind., has succeeded in getting rid of the R-rated movie titles being rented out of its local McDonald’s Redbox kiosk. Rick Reichenbach, owner of the Union City McDonald's and other nearby restaurants, agreed to take out the R titles after being threatened with a Union City public nuisance citation. More - Alvin streets on DVD, Blu-ray April 1
FEB. 5 | UPDATE: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will no longer release a digital copy with the April 1 standard DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Alvin and the Chipmunks , although an early press release had stated a digital copy would be available on the two-disc and Blu-ray versions. More - Image extends BTP merger closing date
FEB. 4 | Image Entertainment has extended the target closing date for its merger with BTP Acquisition Group to Feb. 5 in order to have more time to determine the transaction’s status. More - Warner’s Otis to premiere at South by Southwest
FEB. 1 | Warner Home Video’s newest Raw Feed production, Otis , is expected to be the label’s most mainstream offering to date. To support it, the studio will premiere the movie at the South by Southwest Film Festival next month before a possible limited theatrical run. More - DVD vet Bersch broadens reach at Sony
FEB. 1 | Steven Bersch has been named president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group, replacing Peter Schlessel, who was recently promoted to president of worldwide affairs at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Going forward, Bersch will report to Schlessel. More - Image defends output deals against BTP accusations
FEB. 1 | Image Entertainment and its would-be parent BTP Acquisition Co. traded barbs late in the week, intended to discredit each other’s breach of contract claims. More - Blu-ray players behind on interactivity
FEB. 1 | Studios are promising their most elite Blu-ray Discs to date in 2008, but not all available and upcoming BD devices can playback the advanced features. More - Gaiam launches Wellness product line
JAN. 31 | Fitness lifestyle specialist Gaiam is launching a new product line, Gaiam Wellness. The new category will hold Gaiam’s DVDs, books and other merchandise that emphasize a natural approach to health and wellness, covering such subjects as nutrition, meditation and exercise. More - PlayStation 3 sales lift Sony earnings
JAN. 31 | Boosted by surging PlayStation 3 strength, Sony reported earnings gains for its 2008 fiscal third quarter. PS3 hardware sales jumped by 3.24 million units over the prior 2007 fiscal third quarter. That represented the biggest sales increase of Sony’s game consoles, topping the 1.35 million unit loss for the PlayStation 2 and 1.05 million unit rise for the PlayStation Portable. More - Sonic drops HD DVD on authoring product
JAN. 30 | Sonic Solutions is ending sales of its Scenarist authoring product for HD DVD in order to streamline operations to emphasize Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution services. More
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