Simultaneous DVD/Theatrical Releases (1 Viewer)

[Jim Williams]

I wonder what would be the financial impact to the movie studios, and movie theaters if every movie was released on DVD and in the theater simultaneously?

I pose this question because there are some HT enthusiasts who will go to the theater to see a movie and also view it on DVD when it is released. Then there are some of us who cringe at the thought of setting foot inside a movie theater and are content to wait to see the movie on DVD in the comfort of our homes. I feel that peoples movie viewing habits will change very little if there were simultaneous releases.

 

[Adam_S]

Reason number one this won't happen:

Piracy, international and at home.

Reason two this won't happen:

Why take the risk of only getting revenue for a film only once? when you can get a 10$ ticket out of them now and a 20$ purchase out of them later. not to mention that rentals of new releases would immediately kill the theatrical market. there are some 4000 theatres in the united states I would guess (judging by films getting released to 3xxx number of theaters). Putting them out of business would be nasty to the economy.

Rason three this won't happen:

Oscar rules stipulate that a film has to play for paid admission in LA for at least one week, and cannot be available simulatneously or any time prior in any other format (online, homevideo etc). So any film that wants to try for any oscar needs to have a thetrical exhibition first.


there are more reasons

And this SHOULD NOT happen because seeing a dvd is a pale comparison to seeing light through celluloid. I for one enjoy seeing movies in the dark on the biggest screen with the best sound ON FILM!, with an appreciative crowd. Film is our friend and far superior to dvd.


Adam

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Another reason - most regular first-run theaters wouldn't book the film if they knew it was also coming out on video the same day. And without first-run theatrical playdates, it's just a made-for-video movie, so the video rentals and sales would also suffer. Lose-lose for everybody.

 

[John Stockton]

If memory serves me well, back in 1982 Airplane II was released to theatres and home video on the same day. The result was disastrous.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

No, not Airplane 2, as far as I remember (I opened it first-run).

"The Pirates of Penzance" premiered on cable (Pay per view, I think) the same day as its theatrical run. Very few first-run theatres in the New York area played it as a result. Another one was "Nine-to-Five", it came out on VHS and Beta within a few weeks (a month or two, maybe?) of its theatrical opening.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Pirates of Penzance was on HBO before opening in theaters. Looks awful on video though cause of pan and scan!

 

[Jason Adams]

One thing they could do, is price the DVD rediclously high, like say..$80-100 dollars, AND it should self-destruct like those DVD demos. But people do have DVD burners, so the result would still be terrifying to the theatrical market.

 

[DaveGR]

I dont know why ,other than having a phobia,someone wouldnt want to go to see a film in a theater,thats what a Film is,FILM, thats it. Dvd ,VHS,all these are just great additions to the original. Saying you dont want to see a movie in a theater,but instead only on dvd,vhs,,thats crazy talk. Its called a FILM,because its on FILM. Some of us are just really spoiled. Now if you have a theater in your house,thats a different story. hehe

 

[Jesse Skeen]

While FILM done right beats everything else, video done right still beats film done wrong, which sadly is much too commonplace (just had the pleasure of seeing "Chicago" not only with analog sound but very low volume and a dark and misframed picture!)

 

[LennyP]

I think it is a great idea, I've thought of it before many times, maybe wait 1 or 2 weeks first but then sell DVDs right at the theater. So you'd have to buy a ticket to then be able to buy a DVD if you've liked the movie. Most won't go see it a second time but right after watching it, majority would be in a mood to have a movie and take it with them.
Many DVDs are ready when the film hits the theaters, at least transfers are and it would bring a lot more income than releasing a movie on DVD months later and having to advertise it again to remind people of it.

Piracy is happening anyway, just with telesync or cam versions, they're terrible and I'd never watch them, but many do anyway as they don't care much about the quality I suppose, so if a DVD is available sooner, it won't change the availability of pirated material, it'd just be of better quality.

 

[Brett_B]

I doubt this would EVER happen. Allowing this to happen would definitely be the beginning of the end for theaters, and I doubt the movie studios would let this happen.

 

[Jim Williams]

I was going through some of my "Sound and Vison" Magazines the other day and I came across this quote from M. Night Shyamalan. His opinions on this are very close to mine:

"With DVD, you get the full benefit of the movie, as opposed to maybe 75% of it in the theater—which sounds ironic, but it's true, because you don't have some guy munching on popcorn, cellphones going off, and speakers that haven't been checked in three years. Plus, one speaker's facing the wrong way, another one's blown out, and the whole system's set too low or too hot. Sometimes people will tell them to turn down the sound because the trailer for XXX is on first and it's so frigging loud that you can't even think. But then the actual movie is played so low that you can't hear it.

"Also, my films deal with literally very dark subject matter. So the bulb in the theater projector could be 10% too dark—almost none of those projectors have the correct light level. Plus, you could be watching Print 4002 that nobody inspected. But the DVD was supervised by me and [cinematographer] Tak Fujimoto, so it's of the highest quality."

I agree that by going to a theater I will lose some of the quality of the movie's experience compared to viewing it at home on a decent HT system.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Somebody should tell M. Night to find a better theatre!

 

[StephenA]

I'd definitely hate it if a movie was released like this, especially if it was ones like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars that are meant to be experienced in a movie theater. I just relish going to the theater with my sister and watching the movie, then waiting in anticipation for it to hit home video formats so I can see the extras and stuff.

 

[JustinCleveland]

Interesting point, Stephen... but I had the pleasure of viewing LotR in a theater with a blown out speaker right in front of me, and watching it at a 45 degree angle from the bottom-left, since I got to the theater late... and it made me HATE the movie. I bought it when the second DVD came out, because I'm a collector, and I fell in love with the film. I also hate the film Catch Me If You Can and Adaptation because of terrible theater experiences... the distraction is just too much, at times. If theaters were really a place where movie fans or people who wanted to have a good experience went, that would be great. But sadly there are too many assholes who go out an ruin the whole experience, plus theaters that aren't even CLOSE to what I have at home, and that's a 27" TV and a DTS 5.1 setup.

 

[Jim Williams]

I concur with Justin. I saw LOTR TTT in a theater with poorly balanced speakers. I could hear none of the dialog. Now I can hardly wait until it is released on DVD so I can finally enjoy it in my nice soft love seat with my feet up, a cold Pepsi next to me that cost .99 cents for an entire liter, and a bag of popcorn that is not too greasy or salty. The only distraction will be my African Grey parrot who insists on laughing too loudly at any of the funny parts of a movie.

 

[JustinCleveland]

Jim,

"The only distraction will be my African Grey parrot who insists on laughing too loudly at any of the funny parts of a movie."

What a terrible thing to say about your girlfriend!

But I concur. I know the story of TTT, so I had no problems in the cinema, but my fiancee complained for days afterward that she had just sat through a movie and didn't have any idea of what the people were saying, noting that she couldn't wait until we watched it at home.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

a cold Pepsi next to me that cost .99 cents for an entire liter

A liter of Pepsi for less than a penny? Man, that's cheap!

(Sorry - inappropriate decimals are a pet peeve!)

 

[Chad R]

Has anyone who's had these terrible experiences complained to the theater management (not employees, management)?

Maybe I'm spiled becuase there are literally a dozen great theaters within driving distance around here, but I would never trade the theatrical experience for home.

The very few times I've had problems I've complained to the manager, gotten a raincheck for another movie and when I came back the problems were solved.

I've also tried 1-800-PHONE-THX a few times (which is only for contracted films) and been back to see an improvement.

Take some initiative and get some results.

 

[Jim Williams]

Oops, I meant 99 cents.