Paramount teaming with Exhibtors to shorten Home Entertainment release windows

[Chaotic]

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/pa...ws-1201536116/

[Moe Szyslak]

17 days? Yowza.

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by Moe Szyslak

17 days? Yowza.

Considering their output in the last few years, it was only a matter of time before they became the new Vestron Video.

[WhatALovelyDay]

I had no idea they renamed Scouts Vs. Zombies

So they're going to have the dvds and blurays ready already and wait for the film to drop to 300 screens?

[Foggy]

This'll backfire so badly, who's going to want to pay full price for Paranormal Activity 5 a couple of weeks after seeing it in the cinema, if they can wait the usual time it'll be way cheaper.

[chris_sc77]

Originally Posted by Foggy

This'll backfire so badly, who's going to want to pay full price for Paranormal Activity 5 a couple of weeks after seeing it in the cinema, if they can wait the usual time it'll be way cheaper.

Who would want to pay for that one at all.
I am all for them doing this for some smaller films though.
no way are they going to have huge movies like Jurassic World come out so soon when its still kicking butt at theaters though

[Geoff D]

Boy, they are desperate to claw some money back from Terminator Genisys.

(I know that T-Gen isn't in the article, but what the hell, might as well get in another dig for the sake of it.)

[HorrorBlu]

I think the current 3 month window is too fast already. I'd like them to go back to 6 months like in the 90s and early '00s. I like the wait between, it gives motivation to go to the theater. It gives more value to a movie ticket.

Plus, I like the anticipation for the home video release. It's hard to explain. I go see a movie in the theater, then buy the movie on release date 3 months later, but have no motivation to watch it immediately because I just watched it. Then I just kind of forget about it and it sits in the unwatched pile. 6 months is long enough to where I'm eager to see it again and watch it right away.

But with torrents and movies getting leaked so easily, the studios want to get their crap out there as quickly as they can to make the most money possible before everyone downloads a copy. It's kind of a bummer, there's no hype, anticipation, or build-up anymore.

[HorrorBlu]

For example, people are saying it has taken so long for The Town That Dreaded Sundown remake to be released on disc, or that they thought it would never get released.

It was only released last October. It hasn't been that long.

People need everything NOW NOW NOW!

[Chaotic]

3 months is perfect for me. 6 months is ridiculous. I would spend more money seeing it a few times in theaters than just buying the movie.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

For example, people are saying it has taken so long for The Town That Dreaded Sundown remake to be released on disc, or that they thought it would never get released.

It was only released last October. It hasn't been that long.

People need everything NOW NOW NOW!

That was in very limited theaters though. Not the same as a movie that gets a wide release. A movie that was very limited should get released a lot faster.

10 months is to long for a limited movie to have to wait for a home video release.

[sandman slim]

Originally Posted by Foggy

This'll backfire so badly, who's going to want to pay full price for Paranormal Activity 5 a couple of weeks after seeing it in the cinema, if they can wait the usual time it'll be way cheaper.

Not a couple of weeks after the premiere, seventeen days after the film leaves theaters. Even moderately successful films play first and second run theaters in the bigger cities for months. Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me..

[detective392]

Originally Posted by sandman slim

Not a couple of weeks after the premiere, seventeen days after the film leaves theaters. Even moderately successful films play first and second run theaters in the bigger cities for months. Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me..

I don't see it as a big deal. Another article I read mentioned that once it hit under 300 theaters than it will go to VOD. Nothing about it coming to DVD/BD any faster. Some movies take a very long time to hit under 300 theaters.

BD/DVD should still be around 3-4 months.

[Coenskubrick]

Here in Australia, Mad Max Fury Road, Ex Machina and Slow West could all be bought online (from Australian retailers) while the theatrical run was STILL GOING. I don't know if they want to kill theatre attendance or what...

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Originally Posted by Foggy

This'll backfire so badly, who's going to want to pay full price for Paranormal Activity 5 a couple of weeks after seeing it in the cinema, if they can wait the usual time it'll be way cheaper.

That's kinda stupid from a business suit to know it will be out sooner than usual. So don't even bother seeing movies in the theater.

Theaters will lose a ton of money and so will theaters. I mean especially if it doesn't make its budget back within the first week or so.

[Doctor Jack]

Going to the theater is such a roll of the dice these days. Could be good or could be horrendous. Most of the time it's the latter. I personally would rather have movies come out on Blu as soon as possible. Would much rather watch in my home theater than in a place where people think they are in their own living room and can do as they please.

[Buscemi]

This isn't really a big deal seeing how a bunch of movies are already doing this (for example, Woman in Gold is available on Amazon while a bunch of theatres in New York are still playing it in first run and other cities have it in second run). It was a matter of time before it became the standard.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Going to the theater is such a roll of the dice these days. Could be good or could be horrendous. Most of the time it's the latter. I personally would rather have movies come out on Blu as soon as possible. Would much rather watch in my home theater than in a place where people think they are in their own living room and can do as they please.

I haven't seen the inside of a theater in almost ten years but I would be a little nervous about the impact too narrow windows might have on revenues to both exhibitors and studios.

I don't go to theaters but I don't want them going anywhere either.

[HorrorBlu]

Originally Posted by detective392

That was in very limited theaters though. Not the same as a movie that gets a wide release. A movie that was very limited should get released a lot faster.

10 months is to long for a limited movie to have to wait for a home video release.

While 9 - 10 months is pretty long in terms of a home video release... it still isn't very long. It doesn't seem that long ago. I'm not saying the time between should be that long, just that it should be longer than it currently is.

And regarding Town That Dreaded Sundown, it aired on TV and VOD in October, and has been available for free on NetFlix and Amazon Prime for months now, so it wasn't really hard to come by.

But here's the interesting thing, at least in my experience: I saw the movie on EPIX just after Halloween, and honestly didn't care for it. If it had immediately hit blu-ray and DVD that December I'd have long forgotten the movie even existed by now. But now that the movie is coming out on disc and having this little resurgence, I actually impulse bought the blu-ray this morning at Best Buy. I can barely remember the movie at all, and I'm a little curious to see it again. It's weird.

That's one of the things I love about festival screenings, some of those films don't have distribution yet and it will be a while before you get a chance to see them again. For instance, I saw a midnight screening of Tucker & Dale Vs Evil over a year before the movie was released on VOD and blu-ray. Had a blast seeing it in a theater, and even though the wait for home video was an extremely long time, when it was finally released and I could see it again, it was special and kind of a big deal. In a way, it was like being able to see it again for the first time because it had been so long, which wouldn't have been the case if I had been able to go out and buy it the day after the theatrical screening.

Again, not saying we should have to wait a year for movies to hit disc. I just love going to the movies, and love that little exclusivity window. And as a home media collector, it makes that a little more special as well. With VOD now and so much that is just instantly available to us, it seems like you'll see a trailer for a new movie and it will be available to rent OnDemand or own 2 weeks later. I like a little build-up and anticipation for blu-ray releases.

[ZoetMB]

While I can see the rationale in this instance (low-budget uninteresting movies, exhibitors get a share of home video revenues), IMO, this is a suicide pact for the industry.

Theatrical presentation gives credibility to a film. It's the difference between a "real" film and a "direct-to-video" movie. My prediction is that as theatrical windows get shorter, total revenues will drop. We're going to see a lot of theatres go out of business over the next ten years. And just as overall music industry revenues have dropped since the album no longer dominates, overall theatrical industry revenues will drop as well because like music, films will not be perceived as having value.

As I've posted before, NYC has lost 29.5% of its theaters and 16.4% of its screens since 2001. I think most small cities will wind up with just one theatre, if they haven't already.

Studio executives don't give a crap because they don't expect to be around for more than a few years. They're just looking at the next quarter and they want as much cash flow as possible. They believe that due to marketing costs, it pays to release in all media at pretty much the same time. They'll kill the industry.