What's new

Full-Screen Sales Trend (1 Viewer)

Shane_M

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 8, 2004
Messages
232
I searched around town as well for the Widescreen version of Grease with no luck. Walmart only had the fullscreen and when I asked a friend of mine that works in that departement he said they never got any.

I guess when the masses started heading back to HDTV they'll be dissapointed with the black bars on the side...You can never keep the public happy.
 

Malcolm R

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2002
Messages
25,141
Real Name
Malcolm
Because most people who complain about "black bars" can't even set the clock on their VCR's, let alone figure out "zoom" functions on a DVD player menu.
 

Michael St. Clair

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 3, 1999
Messages
6,001
Also, not all DVD players have a zoom function.

Also, zooming doesn't pan to follow the action, and resolution is reduced.

Hey, I'm all about OAR, but I'm realistic.
 

Eric Alderson

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 22, 1999
Messages
249
If someone prefers Pan & Scan over OAR, they wont care how a movie looks zoomed. "Hey Ma, I got dem black bars off da screen. Yee haw!" :)
 

LukeB

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2000
Messages
2,178
I'm glad that Disney actually recommends people who don't like the black bars to use the Zoom function in their surprisingly refreshing section on Widescreen/Fullscreen in the Beauty and the Beast booklet. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Ryan Peter

Screenwriter
Joined
Sep 15, 1999
Messages
1,220
I've heard J6P in the stores complaining about zooming in widescreen movies.. "The ones that are extra wide never look right like that"... Usually I'm walking away and leaving and don't have a chance to say something.
 

Nate Anderson

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
1,152
I've heard J6P in the stores complaining about zooming in widescreen movies.. "The ones that are extra wide never look right like that"... Usually I'm walking away and leaving and don't have a chance to say something.
Ow! My head just started to hurt really bad!
 

Jeff Jacobson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2001
Messages
2,115
I purchased Grease at Circuit City because they had the best price ($18).
But at checkout the clerk asked "Are you sure you want the WideScreen?
Like it was infected by virus or something...
This resurgence of pan & scan is troubling, I was hoping it was gone for good (or at least limited to 'family' titles).
Frank
This is probably because they get a lot of people who return their widescreen DVDs because they were too stupid to read the package, whereas most of the people who prefer OAR will actually read the package before they buy to make sure they are getting the version that they wanted.
 

richard plumb

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 5, 1999
Messages
109
Is Grease even available in full screen in Europe? I think its only in widescreen?

If so, is there really such a difference in markets to not justify a fullscreen version? Do we have higher penetration of widescreen TVs? Or is it too expensive to release two versions across so many countries?
 

John J Nelson

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 21, 2001
Messages
73
AFAIK, the only dual WS/P&S release in the UK to date is Harry Potter, and the P&S was thrashed in terms of sales by the WS version. LOTR, the highest-selling DVD to date, was released in WS only.

I'm sure that this is because of the predominance of WS TVs in the UK, and that in the consumer's mind, DVD is a WS medium. WS TVs, broadcasting and DVD transfers have now reached a critical mass here, which is still pretty far from happening in the US.

-- J.
 

Dick

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 22, 1999
Messages
9,913
Real Name
Rick
I must say I am glad that about 75% of all post-1953 movies I really NEED to own have already been released OAR on DVD. That leaves about 300 or so still unreleased, and I keep my fingers ever crossed that they will appear in widescreen (only a few have actually turned up pan and scan-only, including THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER, JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN, but that's bad enough). It seems fortunate to me that the DVD release schedule during the first five years was so prolific that I was able to pick up the vast majority of my favorite films OAR before the P&S mentality took over.
 

Mark Hanson

Agent
Joined
May 4, 1999
Messages
49
Lets see stretching a 4:3 movie on widescreens, Olivia will not look like that no way no how. No way not a chance. That stretch will convince people they were taken.
 

Randy A Salas

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 25, 2002
Messages
1,348
Well, I never heard back from Video Business, but now I know there was something wrong with last week's chart. This week, the widescreen version of Grease is shown as a "new" entry at No. 7 on the Video Business chart--even though it came out the same week as the full-screen version and thus should have been a new entry last week. The fact that it's a new entry this week would seem to indicate that it was overlooked last week. For what it's worth, the full-screen version now is No. 15.

Also, supporting my contention about past trends, The Scorpion King debuts this week with the widescreen release at No. 1 and the full-screen at No. 3.
 

Rob Dawn

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 8, 2001
Messages
117
Very good to hear that last week's numbers were probably an oversight.
Even better to hear that the WS Scorpion King outsold the P&S version. As long as the numbers stay like this OAR should stay around.

Now if Disney, etc. would stop releasing their recent live-action movies (Snow Dogs, Big Fat Liar, etc.) in P&S only everything DVD-related would be great!

Rob
 

William Ward

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 1, 2000
Messages
701
I didn't buy the WS version of the Scorpion King at K-Mart because they didn't get any(they usually get the dual releases but didn't this time...).

I told the manager to inform whoever their DVD supplier was that they lost at least one sale, and probably a few more because they didn't have the WS version....I also mentioned that the FS says "formatted to fit your screen" but that it doesn't fit mine because it doesn't say 'enhanced for 16/9'. I closed it out by saying, if your superiors continue to neglect the Widescreen DVD format, that I'd not be shopping there any more....
 

Kevin M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2000
Messages
5,172
Real Name
Kevin Ray
I don't think the charts were a mistake, after all if you can't find a WS version of a very popular film in 30 to 40 percent of the stores you look in yet find an abundance of P&S titles of the same popular film, I would think that the P&S would indeed outsell the WS....the playing field seems to be uneven.
 

Damin J Toell

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2001
Messages
3,762
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Real Name
Damin J. Toell
I don't think the charts were a mistake, after all if you can't find a WS version of a very popular film in 30 to 40 percent of the stores you look in yet find an abundance of P&S titles of the same popular film, I would think that the P&S would indeed outsell the WS
A reasonable argument, except that:
1. They list the Grease WS release as "new" this week, which is a blatant error.
2. The WS is now outselling the P&S on the new charts, which goes directly against your theory.
Both of those indicate a mistake.
DJ
 

Kevin M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2000
Messages
5,172
Real Name
Kevin Ray
I'm glad to be wrong....for how long we will have to wait and see. I still think the playing field is uneven.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,838
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top