3D Disney Does it again...No 3D Bluray announced for "Maleficent." (1 Viewer)

[SFMike]

You don't know that...you're making an assumption. From what little we can ascertain, many 3D titles sell well.

It's nice to see you have a positive attitude but I think its safe to assume Disney isn't pleased with US sales of their 3D blu-ray releases otherwise we would not have to import the damn things from other countries. Other studios may have better sales figures that please them and I hope they continue to give us great features.

 

[t2smith]

I don't understand why lower demand prevents studios from releasing something at all or in a certain country. Would it kill them to manufacturer just enough copies to meet the demand and then manufacture more if the anticipated demand is exceeded? Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if they are planning a double dip on 3D titles in the U.S. They might even put them in the vault for a few years to drive up demand before releasing them in 3D, but they'll be lucky if the format isn't dead by then.

 

[StephenDH]

Lower demand = less profit, which is all the studios/distributors care about. Elsewhere on these threads there are many instances of people sitting on movies rather than putting them back into circulation because there's no money in it.
One they've paid Sony's ransom ($50,000 I've heard) for actually wanting to use their format, there's a pretty big slice gone from the budget.

 

[RJ992]

It's nice to see you have a positive attitude but I think its safe to assume Disney isn't pleased with US sales of their 3D blu-ray releases otherwise we would not have to import the damn things from other countries. Other studios may have better sales figures that please them and I hope they continue to give us great features.

Oh come now. If FROZEN were released in 3D, it probably would have outsold major sellers like AVATAR, GRAVITY, etc. The discs are being released in the UK but demand for 3D there is (from what I've read) less than in the USA. But that doesn't stop Disney from releasing them over there. And since discs are being manufactured, it's not costing much to release therm here as well. So the ROI is a slam-dunk. No, what Disney is doing stateside is something else. Or haven't you noticed their utter silence in even addressing the issue.

 

[SFMike]

Oh come now. If FROZEN were released in 3D, it probably would have outsold major sellers like AVATAR, GRAVITY, etc. The discs are being released in the UK but demand for 3D there is (from what I've read) less than in the USA. But that doesn't stop Disney from releasing them over there. And since discs are being manufactured, it's not costing much to release therm here as well. So the ROI is a slam-dunk. No, what Disney is doing stateside is something else. Or haven't you noticed their utter silence in even addressing the issue.

OK...then that leaves us with the believable rumor that Disney wants to force 3D consumers into streaming content as their long term plan is to stop producing physical media and change over to all streaming delivery. 3D is being used as the beginning of this changeover. Or, my theory is that a manager at Disney Home Video really hates 3D, thinks blu-ray 3D is dying/dead financially and hopes to make himself look good by savings a small sum by not bothering to release 3D bluray in the US. Disney has always been middle management heavy and if some wonder kid can show a cost savings on a spreadsheet he is going to want to shoot for a bonus regardless of what the consumer wishes as profits and shareholders come first.

Bottom line, and yes I've noticed, Disney has made no statements regarding their position on blu-ray 3D distribution in the US so we can believe whatever we want. I have viewed this whole sad situation as an example of poor customer service to those of us who enjoy blu-ray 3D releases. They make no statement and require us to import titles of films made here in their country of orgin. This silence is rude to say the least and shows how little Disney Home Video feels about blu-ray 3D or the feelings of 3D consumers here in the US. We are small and insignificant enough to ignore without hurting and maybe helping the financial bottom line. I agree with you that this does not seem like a good business decision but, they obviously don't care what we think or want. Happy importing!

As a side note its kind of funny how you can sometime import a title, with shipping costs, for less than you would pay for one of their past multi-disc releases here. Another example of their disregard and poor marketing to those of us who want blu-ray 3D. We get no respect.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I got Bolt, Tangled and Alice in Wonderland from an Ebay seller in China for less than what I would've paid for their US editions. These were promo editions (they're legit, I know how to spot illegal copies!) I think given away with TVs and only included the 3D discs, but that was all I really wanted anyways (certainly had no use for the 2D DVD!)

 

[revgen]

Apparently, Mexican 3D versions of Maleficent, Frozen, and Planes: Fire and Rescue are available. They should be Region A.

http://www.sanborns.com.mx/Paginas/Producto.aspx?ean=7509656305161
http://www.sanborns.com.mx/Paginas/Producto.aspx?ean=7509656304874
http://www.sanborns.com.mx/Paginas/Producto.aspx?ean=7509656305307

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Anyone ever ordered from Sanborns before? Price on 3D Frozen looks reasonable, but one wonders about reliability of shipments, etc. having never ordered anything from Mexico before.

 

[ABaglivi]

Ordered Maleficent 3D from Sanborn's using PayPal. It arrived, beautifully packaged, from DHL within a week of the order.

 

[SFMike]

Does any one but me see the irony of Disney reducing us to making a trip to Tijuana to buy a 3D blu-ray copy of their films. This is a corporate decision that boggles the mind.

 

[revgen]

Does any one but me see the irony of Disney reducing us to making a trip to Tijuana to buy a 3D blu-ray copy of their films. This is a corporate decision that boggles the mind.

IMO, Disney is trying to get people to stream 3D movies instead of buying 3D Blu-Ray discs.

What they don't seem to understand is

1) Few devices can stream 3D.

2) How important bit-rate is, especially for 3D films. The 12mbps Netflix version of Beowulf 3D pales in comparison to the 3D blu-ray version released in Europe.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Los Disney son estupidos.

 

[Jbug]

Apparently, Mexican 3D versions of Maleficent, Frozen, and Planes: Fire and Rescue are available. They should be Region A.

http://www.sanborns.com.mx/Paginas/Producto.aspx?ean=7509656305161
http://www.sanborns.com.mx/Paginas/Producto.aspx?ean=7509656304874
http://www.sanborns.com.mx/Paginas/Producto.aspx?ean=7509656305307

It appears that this website is down for maintenance or so it says!

 

[revgen]

The site is back up and running.

 

[MatthewA]

Does any one but me see the irony of Disney reducing us to making a trip to Tijuana to buy a 3D blu-ray copy of their films. This is a corporate decision that boggles the mind.

Iger's staying put until 2018, so any chance of things getting better in this respect are slim.

Mexico also got So Dear to My Heart before the USA did. That was supposed to be a Gold Collection disc like the other non-embargoed, non-Touchstone live-action/animation hybrids, and with a modest selection of extras, too. But it was years before it came out, and when it did, it was just through that movie club.

This no-3D business is frustrating, but it's understandable when you put it in the context of other boneheaded decisions of late. They only want the absolutely, positively most profitable things. If you're profitable, but not profitable enough, then they'll ignore you.

 

[Towergrove]

IMO, Disney is trying to get people to stream 3D movies instead of buying 3D Blu-Ray discs.

What they don't seem to understand is

1) Few devices can stream 3D.

2) How important bit-rate is, especially for 3D films. The 12mbps Netflix version of Beowulf 3D pales in comparison to the 3D blu-ray version released in Europe.

Why would Disney want to get people to stream their 3D movies and yet they dont have the same efforts in place for the other 2D version (Exclusive only)? Also I thought that the purchase of a Disney anywhere or VUDU was also download, not just streaming as you suggest. When I purchase my films digitally I download to my home server, I dont stream them.

 

[revgen]

Why would Disney want to get people to stream their 3D movies and yet they dont have the same efforts in place for the other 2D version (Exclusive only)? Also I thought that the purchase of a Disney anywhere or VUDU was also download, not just streaming as you suggest. When I purchase my films digitally I download to my home server, I dont stream them.

Good question. I don't know. Their motives are questionable, along with their decision to allow their Mexican distributor to release the disc in 3D.

My guess is that there is A) more demand for the 2D release and B) Folks who watch 3D are more likely to be "early adopters". Perhaps they're trying to experiment and see how 3D buyers will react to a title only officially being available for streaming.

Disney has always tried weird ideas with their catalog. From adapting DiVX before they finally relented and supported DVD, waiting until the Blu-Ray standard had BD+ protection, etc. It's hard to know what exactly is on their minds.

AFAIK, only the PS3 supports downloading 3D titles. I don't know of any other "server" that can download 3D titles from the site and playback from a HDD. In any case, VUDU's bitrate pales in comparison to Blu-Ray.

 

[SFMike]

Why would Disney want to get people to stream their 3D movies and yet they dont have the same efforts in place for the other 2D version (Exclusive only)? Also I thought that the purchase of a Disney anywhere or VUDU was also download, not just streaming as you suggest. When I purchase my films digitally I download to my home server, I dont stream them.

I believe Disney has no interest in 3D as a home format in the US and is taking the simplest avenue to distribute the 3D content they have until they decide to pull the plug completely on 3D as an underperforming revenue stream. We don't count only dollars do and to the corporation we have not held up our end of the consumer equation.

 

[Mark Booth]

3D TV is DeadThe Great 3D FiascoMark

 

[MatthewA]

3D TV is DeadThe Great 3D FiascoMark

They killed it in the 1950s with...a glut of movies with 3D effects propping up lousy scripts.

And then they brought it back in the 1980s and killed it again with...another glut of movies with anaglyph 3D propping up even lousier scripts.

Then, they brought it back in the 2000s and despite actually making 3D TV in the home a reality, they are poised to kill it yet again...with one last glut of movies with either real or fake 3D propping up the lousiest scripts yet and, worst of all, the lethal combination of bad scripts and bad 3D conversions that are literally painful to watch.

Notice the common denominator? The scripts. No one is going to pay extra if the picture is three-dimensional but the characters are not.