Cinema to DVD Windows getting shorter? Catch me if you can out only 19 weeks after... (1 Viewer)

[Johnny G]

If IGN is correct, the May 6 release date is one of the shortest windows from Cinema to DVD that I've seen for a major release.

New line have been quick in the past with the likes of Rush Hour and Warner's are releasing Two Weeks Notice only 18 weeks and 4 days after theaters.

It looks like the studios are getting eager for their DVD money sooner than they used to be when 6 months or more was the norm.

 

[Andrew Chong]

Sounds like troubling news to me--rushed releases mean shoddier, not-what-they-could-have-been releases to me.

 

[LukeB]

Not really, considering most DVD extras are put together during the film's production. Even if a DVD comes out 4 months after theatrical release, the studio has had well over a year to produce and compile DVD extras.

And some DVDs have had as quick a turnaround as 12 weeks. Disney's Mighty Joe Young comes to mind.

 

[Adam_WM]

CMIYC would be 19 weeks would be almost 5 months which has been a fairly standard window for some time except for huge blockbusters (i.e. LOTR)

 

[Jeff Kleist]

If IGN is correct, the May 6 release date is one of the shortest windows from Cinema to DVD that I've seen for a major release.

Not really. It came out Christmas Day and the video's coming out May 6th? Pretty typical. Maybe not for Spielburg, but that's not short at all

 

[Andy_MT]

i'd like to see new releases out sooner, perhaps after a film has fallen out of the top X. if DVD production has started during film production (and all talent have been secured to work on it), then i don't see quicker turnaround times to be unrealistic.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

DVD production is STARTED during the film, it doesn't mean it's finished right after the flm is out

 

[Johnny G]

They'd be losing out on box office takings if they made the window to small.

BTW Fellowship of the Ring was 33 weeks from cinema to DVD, I don't see a similarity and also 19 weeks is 7 weeks less than 6 months which is "Pretty typical"!

 

[Andy_MT]

DVD production is STARTED during the film, it doesn't mean it's finished right after the flm is out

that's what i said Jeff, DVD production is started DURING the film. i don't expect it to be completed when the film comes out, but they must have a fairly healthy percentage of it completed.

i agree the window shouldn't be too small, but surely once a film falls out of the top X (30/40/50), the studio is making less return on it.

 

[Greg Br]

I notice a logical progression with films, usualy a two month or so main box run, then it hits the dollar theaters for a month and then shorty after its out on video. I bet 20-25 weeks will be the norm now that studios understand that the dvd is as big as the initial film release and plan accordingly.

 

[Johnny G]

Trouble is if people KNOW a movie will be out 4 months after theaters, a lot of movies people would be in 2 minds to see would be put on the "wait for DVD" list which might have been watched had the window been a couple of months longer.

 

[Greg Br]

Johnny

I think there is already two mind sets regardless of the length. Personaly I am a wait until the DVD is out type unless I am really excited to see a film(a three year old also adds to that). If its 4 months or 6 months I dont think that is going to make a difference to the larger films that are solid movies, now the marginal ones maybe.

 

[ThomasC]

Far From Heaven has an even shorter cinema to DVD turnaround time, but it depends on how you look at it. It hit NY and LA on November 8, spread to 14 more markets on the 15th, then went as wide as it would go on the 22nd. DVD/VHS release date is set for April 1, which makes it around 18-20 weeks after the theatrical release.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Yeah, but what is really interesting is that there doesn't seem to be a down side. Consumers are purchasing DVDs far more often than they ever did VHS. So, people are definitely loving the film after release. But, we are also spending more money than ever at the theater box-office, which means we are also catching the movie at the theater. It seems to me that by shortening the window they are keeping the moementum high for a film rather than to let it die down for 6 months or more.

So, this is like a win-win for the studios. Not only are they DVD-conscious during production, creating extras as they make the film, but they also have an equally hungry theater and home theater target.

I'm suspecting that the people who would choose to wait for DVD are following a similar curve as people who attend fewer movies as they get older. Their lack of theater attendance is made up by the younger crowd. The only difference is that instead of waiting for renting VHS or buying LD, they can now wait to buy/rent DVD.

 

[Greg Br]

I would say price factors in as well, new release dvd for 15 bucks or 18 for two tickets to a movie. Studios can see the light. They sure dont want people who do not go see it at the theater and are waiting to forget the film, and 9 months or a year can do that.

 

[Jodee]

Trouble is if people KNOW a movie will be out 4 months after theaters, a lot of movies people would be in 2 minds to see would be put on the "wait for DVD" list which might have been watched had the window been a couple of months longer.

I think many people are somewhat ignorant of theatrical windows before video release.

I just overheard a lady in Best Buy asking for the DVD of "Antwone Fisher" and the clueless BB drone was looking it up on the computer for her.

I wasn't sure if I should interrupt them or not and tell them that movie is still in theatres.

 

[PatrickL]

Isn't one of the reasons for the shrinking window an attempt to curtail some of the piracy and bootlegging? I could have sworn a studio exec was recently quoted saying that.

 

[Robert Spalding]

If I remember correctly, Blair Witch Project came out on DVD 3 months after it was released.

Wide release was 7/30/99

DVD release was 10/22/99

less than 3 months! 12 weeks!

 

[Joshua Moran]

I think in some cases the movies do better on DVD than they do in the box office. Sales wise.

 

[DeeF]

Many movies are being created specifically for the DVD market. Peter Jackson says as much in the features of FOTR Extended Version.

The theatrical showing is kind of a big preview, and the DVD could be considered the souvenir of the experience. I wouldn't be surprised to learn, sometime in the future, that you'll be able to buy the DVD in the theater you just watched the movie. Why not? Maybe they could sell it for one price, say, $25 dollars, get the movie experience and the souvenir DVD.