Lucasfilm's Rick McCallum says DVD hurts box office returns. (1 Viewer)

[Jack Briggs]

I want to step in here for a moment to remind everyone that a brushfire thread such as this one gets looked at closely.

This is not a thread about the Star Wars movies. It is a thread about McCallum's claims,valid or otherwise. That is what is supposed to be discussed here. Remain focused on that topic so this thread can achieve something akin to progress. Also, be thou cool.

Sorry for the interruption. Thank you.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Also, James Reader of Didcot in the UK: I thoroughly enjoyed your post. It was very well-written and well-reasoned. JB

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Sorta getting back to the beginning here:

I don't go to the movies as often as I did before dvd. I often wait for the dvd rather than go to the theater. If I do see a film at the theater I only see it once, not several times as before.

The primary reason for this is that as McCallum said, it looks and sounds better at home than it does in the theater. I only have a progressive scan player and a Sony HD-ready widescreen with a mid-fi sound system.

It's not that my gear is so great but that the presentation in the theaters in my area is so uniformly bad--no bass to speak of so sound doesn't bleed into the next screening room, poor film prints indifferently projected, and I don't even count the cellphones, screaming babies, and loud talkers in the audience.

I do go to a few films in the theaters, last one was Road to Perdition and before that was FOTR. I skipped AOTC.
In every case since I saw Titanic back in 97, I sat there watching the movie and thinking I could hardly wait to see it on dvd so I could see what the moviemakers really intended me to see and hear. In the case of FOTR and every other film I've seen in theaters since Titanic, it's looked and sounded better at home.

As for Lucas' attitude toward dvd, I can hardly credit the idea that he's anti-dvd. One of the first discs I bought was American Graffiti, back in 98. It has as good a picture as is possible considering the cheapo widescreen process used that amounts to 16mm, a good assortment of extras, and a full length commentary by Lucas. It may be a redo of the LD, I don't know, but it is about as thorough and complete a package as could be found back in 98.

The Phantom Menace dvd looks at least as good as it did when I saw it in the theater, maybe a bit better. It has all of the extras done in full anamorphic widescreen. The extended and deleted scenes were fully completed solely for dvd presentation. No other dvd in my collection is as well done as far as presentation of extras. It's obvious that a lot of extra work and consideration for dvd fans went into this set, more than in about any other so far. The upcoming Titanic SE should be this good.

From everything I've read, the AOTC dvd should be even better. Lucas may have his faults, but antipathy toward the dvd format isn't one of them, imho.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Those who brag about box office (a sad measurement that has nothing to do with quality) might want to look at the international box office figures.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/
If you want to talk about it, let's start a new thread.

"I don't think there's a single movie that can survive on box office gross alone; it just doesn't exist anymore," says McCallum.

Can anyone put this in the proper context? I'll admit I might be missing something. But at face value, it looks to me like McCallum is either a liar, or ignorant. The facts are contrary to his statement.
Anyone?

 

[Keith Paynter]

The way that studios tend to think nowadays is that their movie must make a certain gross percentage against their cost in the first weekend or it will be considered a failure, and they rarely use the system to nurture a good movie.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Blair Witch Project are films that went against the traditional Hollywood system, and became great successes because of their marketing, in terms of costs vs. revenue. Small films can be successful in helping a studios bottom line if they get past the "get rich quick" philosophy.

They are simply putting out product, and the truth of the matter is not every movie is going to be a success, and just like the music industry, the handful of large scale successes will offset the modest/mediocre/negligable sales of their other offerings.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Exactly, we've already discussed the Star Wars movies to death in the Movies Area and that theme doesn't need to be rehased here again.



Crawdaddy

 

[Leif Wall]

The last movie I saw in the theater was X-Men. Which I saw twice. (because one was a date with a girl!!! woohoo!!!)

Anyways, I just wait for the dvd. I've downloaded movies over the net before, but none are dvd quality. In fact the quality is ULTRA shitty. I want anamorphic widescreen so I can watch on my 53" HDTV and I want DD and DTS.

I will once again go to the theater though, to see The Two Towers.

So talk of getting all the Star Wars flicks on HD-DVD when it rolls out would probably make this guy go into the fetal position.

 

[Terrell]

I beginning to wonder if McCallum was referring to home video hurting the box office . Before the advent of VHS and home video, far more people went to the movies than they do today. VHS had a lot to do with that. DVD has exploded and it could have even more impact than VHS, especially considering DVDs are being released quicker than ever.Would more people be going to the theater if DVD didn't exist? I would imagine so. I think in that context, McCallum's comments have at least some validity.

Ugh! I just had to go and defend McCallum. Now if McCallum could stop saying "f***king awesome dude!"

 

[alan-g]

I have read through all the posts in this thread and you all make a lot of good comments but I would like to chime in with my take on all of this, especially as it pertains to the OT.

I love the running sales total on Bill Hunt's "The digital bits" site because although we know that DVD has grown in leaps and bounds if you follow that running total it really puts things in perspective.

At the time of the episodes 1 release on vhs in April 2000 the running total was around 6 million, now it is just shy of 37 million, that is a staggering growth rate in 2 and a half years.

I predict that with the last quarter this year it will hit around 42-43 million.

That 6 million total at the time of episodes 1 video release was not worth lucas's time because that figure did not even represent 10% of VHS penetration and thus it wasn't worth his time. But how things have changed.

There was no way that lucas was not going to release episode 2 on DVD this time around.

Which brings me to my point. Episode 2 gets released in 3 weeks time, fine. Episode 3 will not hit theaters until May 2005. Given the normal time frame you could say that episode 3 will get released on home video in November 2005. That would mean then that there will be no star wars home video releases in the market for a full 3 years.

What is staggering is that what is the estimate for dvd penetration by November 2005. My guess is 70 million (but That is conservative). Thats a long way from 6 million and making statements regarding no OT DVD's. If Lucas stays out of the market for the next 3 years he would have missed the whole growth cycle of DVD and rued the opportunity to keep his product fresh in the public's mind. Again, 3 years is a long time.

Geekboys won't miss it because next year they will salivate over two towers and Matrix sequel DVD's and all the future blockbusters to come.

2005 will also represent 8 years since the oT re-release and my guess is he won't be happy with the 1997 versions anymore. it's a never ending cycle.

I'm betting that next year we will see the first major blockbuster not getting a VHS release and only a DVD release and my guess is that it will be Matrix:reloaded.

Lucasfilm pride themselves on their marketing skills but there a bunch of fools in this case. My guess is that the OT will appear in the next 1-2 years.

I welcome your comments

 

[Terrell]

Lucasfilm pride themselves on their marketing skills but there a bunch of fools in this case.

Well, I'd think the billions raked in with video releases and licensing deals would prove you wrong. I'm not sure they sit around boasting of their marketing skills either. They're just good at it.

Look, the original trilogy DVDs are going to sell like mad when they come out, regardless of the timing of the release. It wouldn't surprise me if they became the highest selling DVDs of all time. Episode III in 3 years time will also sell big. It doesn't matter if Lucas misses the growth period. The fact is by the time Episode III and the OT DVDs are released, the installed user base for DVD will be much bigger than it is now. That can only mean more moolah for Lucas an even bigger sales down the road. So I don't see how missing this growth period is going to hurt Lucasfilm. They know what they're doing.

Regardless of McCallum's comment, he knows that DVD is a major boom market that will only help to line his and Lucasfilm's pockets. While I agree that maybe home video has hurt box office takes, the fact is DVD only helps filmmakers make more money than they ever did before. Lucasfilm will make a bigger profit off the DVD than they did off the film. Yes, maybe the quick release of the DVD caused some people to skip the film and wait for it on DVD. But I think Lucas is smart enough to realize the DVD is only going to make even more money. I believe the success of Episode I on DVD at least changed his mind about DVD. Lucas originally planned to not release any of the DVDs until after the prequels were complete. Obviously things have changed since then.

So I think McCallum is both right and wrong on this issue of DVD.

 

[Jeff_HR]

They're on the verge of collapse anyway

Considering the absolutely byzantine accounting systems that the Studios use, who is to know what kind of financial shape that they are in!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Considering the absolutely byzantine accounting systems that the Studios use, who is to know what kind of financial shape that they are in!

Too true! Too true!

 

[DeathStar1]

You want repeat buisness? Improve the theater experience.

With Home Theater coming along as nicely as it is, why put up with the hassles of going to the theater twice, since the DVD is coming out a few months down the line anway?
The main problems I see with the theater are as follows..some age old troubles, some new ones...

1)Sticky floors. Would it really trouble people to run a vacume and mop over the floor once every few hours?

2)No Stadium seating. One of the things that almost always happens to me, is some tall person sits in front of me, there's no place else to go, and I'm stuck with a poor viewing spot the entire time. Theaters with Stadium seeting will always get my buisness first.

3)Ticket prices. Why pay $15's to go to a noisy, messy, view obstructed theater, when you can pay the same price for the DVD and watch it in the comfort of your own home?

And finally, #4. COMMERCIALS! When Episode 2 came out, I hadn't been in a theater for about 2 years, and I didn't miss the experience one bit. But I was amazed at how many damned commercials where shown before the movie. I'd estimate about 5 minutes of quickie commercials, another 5 minutes of previews, and about 2 minutes of in theater advertising... The audience was almost raving and yelling for them to start the picture by the time it all ended....

If they can improve these things, maby people would be more willing to go to the theater in the first place...

 

[DeathStar1]

>The very thing that filmmakers have been relying on to impress audiences no longer does it for me, and I suspect more than a few others as well. The pulling power is no longer there. >
Agreed. When watching Phantom Menace, I thought..."Gee, this looks nice and all, but it's basically just a re-hashing of all three originals. Besides, I miss the 'realistic' look of the models..."
I challenge anyone to do somehing new with CGI that we havn't seen before and impress us. I think Matrix was the last one to discover a new secret .

 

[Josh Lowe]

What do you guys think about his comments?

either grossly misrepresented or he was smoking crack.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Hey Rick 5 Words for you:

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

Nuff Said

 

[TonyD]

well maybe the dvd hurts box office isn't really so far off.
my wife and i went to the movies tonight to see the ring.
the theater had a 1pm afternoon time and the next show was 4:20. so we went to the 4:20. when she told me "that will be 17.50" i said excuse me?
it turns out that this theater now stops the early cheaper time at 3:00 not 6 anymore. and the cheaper price ain't so cheap either 5.50.
so we turned around and left because we decided that for 17.50 we could buy the movie when it comes out and watch it whenever we wanted.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

My guess is that the OT will appear in the next 1-2 years.

While I thought for awhile that this would be the case as well, the fact is that LucasFilm has now stated officially that there will be no OT DVDs', in any iteration, until after Episode III is released in 2005.

It's a real shame too, since even a basic release of the OT in November 2004 would have provided tremendous promotion for Ep 3, which probably could have used it.

That could have been followed by the "Super-Duper" set in January 2007 to mark the 30th Anniversary of the original Star Wars film.

Talk about a missed opportunity!!!

 

[Robert_Gaither]

The thing that keeps me from going to see a movie is that most of them have very poor plots (it seems to me most movies have scripts made by people who "fly by the seat of their pants" type of mentality), lacks a fluidity (scences jump to much), and typically too short (most movies are under 2 hours and to me I won't go to watch them at a theater when I can see it at home {superior over all setup} and can see some of the deleted scenes that should of stayed in imho). Most movies have a very cookie cutter pattern of lots of action at the beginning, more action every 20 minutes approximately, and a climatic fight where the hero usually is in dire trouble and surge unrealistically to win (I hate this more than pretty much anything). Finally most movies have actors that seem to rehash a role very similar to a previous movie just with different co-stars with a similar typecasting.

Wow, how about a better script (these might be done better with a longer movie to develope characters more in depth), better variety of scene placement (my advice to people miss the 6-10 minute part of the movie, not the beginning, as you'll miss something worth watching), and have theaters capable to play the sound track better (I can almost never feel low bass, get a sense of space, or even notice a rear sound effect; in other words, I never seem to get lost or drawn into the movie instead of thinking "I can't wait to get this home to see what the mixers really intended). I can't blame people for downloading it (the movies) because the reality is that playback is really not that much of a drop off to the theater in quality (imho).

 

[Seth Paxton]

Vince, I love the "Coupon: The Movie" reference. I imagine the reality doesn't differ much from that board room skit.


To me this is just MARKETING. Rick and GL are holding back on the OT DVD. Why? Piracy concerns according to them. So what do they do, they market their case.

Team owners do it all the time to weaken the player's unions or when they want a new stadium. "we can't make it", etc. It's all spin to get you on their side so you will push what they want into existence.

In this case Rick wants stricter piracy laws for one thing. And they are probably spinning off some negative public perception in being just about the very last standouts when it comes to major DVD releases (Raiders and OT).


We also heard that theaters were going under just 2 years ago. Chains WERE being bought out and going under. But now we've had the 2 BIGGEST BO years ever. This year could contain 10 $200m films. It already has a $450m hit along with a $300m film.

Even ADJUSTED these last 2 years have been stellar.

Films ARE making more than their budgets at the BO all the time, unless the PUBLICLY PRESENTED figures they provide are lies. And if they are then how do we know which part of what they are saying is the truth?


Meanwhile, this is the part I most don't understand...I'll go along with the idea that after the first 2 months your BO drops to nothing because of the impending video release. But with DVD sales on titles getting near the original BO for many films, what's the problem? You just doubled your money, and that's a BAD thing? Nice try.

Tell me again how much home video sales brought in for Star Wars in 1979? Exactly. Sure you didn't get undercut by video, but you also were forced to try and earn at the BO much later in the run when the percentage of the gross stopped favoring the studio over the theater so much. You didn't get ANY income from home video sales.


I think that part sounds a little bit like "AOTC should have done as well as ESB at the BO but it didn't, that's not our fault its the audience". Gee, I MIGHT agree with you if it weren't for SPIDER-MAN, MBFGWedding, and some lame film called TITANIC.

Is this going to turn into that shittiest form of spin doctoring that is popularly used by sports, the new found "era" that lasts 3 years. [old man voice]Yeah, I remember back in 1997 when a film could play for 4 months straight and take in $20m every weekend. A fella could make a film that would take in $600m. Nowadays the best a man can hope for is $300m in 3 months, maybe $450m if you get really lucky. Times just aren't the same in this era.[/old man voice]

To Rick I give a big Dilbert "BAH!"