Video Business back issues from September 2009:
British Purchasing Guide.(Buyers guide)
Sep 07, 2009; ... Compiled by Cheryl Cheng From Howards End (l.) and The F Word (r.) to programs for the 150th anniversary of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, the Brits have it all Sept. 29 Foyle's War: From Dunkirk to VE Day (Sets 1-5 ) ACORN prebook now; DVD ...
Box office bodes well for Q4.
Sep 07, 2009; ... By Susanne Ault DVD sales predictions difficult in current economy Despite DVD sales declines during the first half of the year, the fourth quarter is looking up following a record-breaking summer at the box office. Through Aug. 30, summer box-office revenue was $4.17 ...
BD Live gains fans, features.(Blu-ray Disc)
Sep 07, 2009; ... By Susanne Ault BD Live usage is climbing, according to authoring firm Deluxe Digital Studios. In the nine months since the first BD Live titles debuted, people have connected 25 million such discs to the Web, according to Deluxe research. That figure should double ...
BDA to release 3D specs by year-end.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Studios, retailers happy to wait for better technology At-home theatrical-quality stereoscopic 3D took another step closer to reality last week when the Blu-ray Disc Assn. confirmed that it will have complete universal specifications for the home ...
Disney to acquire Marvel.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Disney has agreed to acquire Iron Man and Spider-Man production home Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion in stock and cash ....
Anime supplier ADV closes doors.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault A.D. Vision Inc. has been dissolved, as different portions of the company have been acquired by multiple entities. Aesir Holdings ...
Sony adds DVS audio to DVD, Blu-ray.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Sony will start releasing select DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles with Descriptive Video Service to improve viewing experiences ...
Blockbuster cuts Viacom debt by $50 million.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Danny King Blockbuster cut its debt owed to former parent Viacom by $50 million after selling Irish retail subsidiary Xtra-vision Limited for about $45 million in cash. The No. 1 U.S. movie-rental chain reduced the value of certain letters of credit to Viacom to $25 million ...
Indie retailers take aim at Redbox.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Campaign suggests kiosks hurt entertainment industry As Redbox battles three of the major studios in court, a group of independent bricks-and-mortar video retailers is working on a campaign to convince consumers that the kiosk operator's $1-a-night ...
DVD Now looks for franchisees.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Cindy Spielvogel Redbox has become a chief competitor not only to other video retailers, but to other kiosk companies as well. DVDNow Kiosks of Vancouver, B.C., in Canada is competing by taking the franchising approach. DVDNow is running a radio ad campaign in ...
DivX deal to put Web video on TVs, phones.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby DivX has acquired Internet TV-streaming company AnySource Media in a $15 million, all-cash deal that will allow the digital video company to bring a wide variety of movie and TV content directly to TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, ...
QuickPlay to launch Mobile Set-Top Box.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Danny King QuickPlay Media next month will unveil what it calls a Mobile Set-Top Box, a software product that will allow some cable, satellite and Internet protocol TV-service subscribers to ...
Can Apple stay in front?
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby The biggest online player has competition in the living room This is the first of a three-part series examining the digital movie businesses' push into the living room. Apple this week will hold its annual fall keynote event, the same ...
Stars align for Web series.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby Segment shows commercial success, Futurescape report says Web TV shows are becoming more mainstream and financially sound as major stars and producers go online, according to digital entertainment research company Futurescape, which just released ...
YouTube in talks to offer movie rentals.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby Quoting sources, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that Google-owned YouTube is in talks with Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and Warner Bros. to offer movie rentals on the site. YouTube would charge for those rentals, likely the standard video-on-demand ...
Top Blu-ray Renters.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended August 30, 2009 <Pre>Top Blu-ray Renters ------------------------------------------------- Rank Title (label/distributor) Index 1 DUPLICITY (UNI) 100.0 2 SUNSHINE CLEANING (ANCHOR ...
Top Blu-ray Sellers.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended August 29, 2009 <Pre> Top Blu-ray Sellers ---------------------------------------------- Rank Title (label/distributor) 1 FIGHTING (UNI, $39.98) 2 WATCHMEN (WB, $35.99) 3 HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE ...
Top Download-to-Own.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended August 30, 2009 <Pre> Blockbuster Video ------------------------------------------- Rank Title (Label/Distributor, SRP) 1 DEXTER: S:3, EP. 1 (SHOWTIME, $1.99) 2 DEXTER: S:3, EP. 2 (SHOWTIME, $1.99) 3 DEXTER: S:3, EP ....
Top DVD Sellers.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended August 29, ...
Top DVD Renters.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended August 30, ...
Top Specialized Renters.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended August 30, 2009 <Pre> Top Specialized Renters ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title (label/distributor) Index NONTHEATRICAL 1...
Drag Me to Hell - DVD and Blu-ray Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Cyril Pearl UNIVERSAL Street: Oct. 13 Prebook: now > Bile and bad tidings flow in Sam Raimi's return to low-budget horror. Sam Raimi takes a break from the Spider-Man saga (he directed all three installments and is currently in ...
Adoration - DVD and Blu-ray Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Irv Slifkin SONY Street: Oct. 13 Prebook: Sept. 10 > Atom Egoyan's film delves into familiar turf with intriguing results. Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter ) has for years been obsessed with tragedy, voyeurism and the media's ...
Online Premieres: Private.(Television program review)
Sep 07, 2009; ... By Jennifer Netherby ALLOY ENTERTAINMENT Available now > Well-done teen melodrama from the producer of TV's Gossip Girl. Private is one of the first original Web series on Teen.com from Alloy Entertainment, producer of addictive TV series ...
Tulpan - DVD Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Ed Grant ZEITGEIST Street: Sept. 22 Prebook: now > Visually striking comedy about a lonely Kazakh shepherd. Documentarian Sergei Dvortsevoy turns fiction filmmaker with this exotic slice-of-life story about a Kazakh shepherd named ...
Chinese Odyssey 2002 - DVD Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Cyril Pearl KINO Street: Oct. 6 Prebook: Sept. 8 > Enthusiastic, star-filled comedy/romance/adventure from Hong Kong. Martial arts action, romance, songs, mistaken identities--it's all here in this over-the-top 2007 farce written ...
Kidwinks: Farm - DVD Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Pamela Brill KIDWINKS LLC Available now >An excellent speech therapy program for children. Designed to make the experience of learning English less frustrating--and more fun--for children, the Kidwinks series of speech-development DVDs ...
Nightmare - DVD Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Ed Hulse IFC FILMS/MPI Street: Sept. 29 Prebook: now > Intense psychosexual thriller is confusing but worthwhile. An off-trail exercise in psychosexual horror from debuting director Dylan Bank, Nightmare ties itself up in ...
Pageant - DVD Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Ed Grant WOLFE Street: Oct. 20 Prebook: now > Female impersonators compete in the Miss Gay America pageant. In the 21st century, beauty pageants seem like odd relics from another, long-past era. Thus, new variations on the old ...
The Girlfriend Experience - DVD and Blu-ray Review.
Sep 07, 2009 ... By Irv Slifkin MAGNOLIA Street: Sept. 29 Prebook: now > Adult star Sasha Grey will draw the curious to this Soderbergh experience. One of filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's experimental features--shot cheap, fast and on digital ...
Messy media mash-up.
Sep 14, 2009; ... By Marcy Magiera Physidgital. I know it's not a real word, but it's the new word (you heard it here first!) that kept coming to mind as we laid out the news pages this week. Back in May, we changed VB 's design to draw equal attention to stories about packaged media ...
Redbox in business for the short term.(Brief article)
Sep 14, 2009 ... Staff I want to applaud those retailers and those studios that are standing up to Redbox. Redbox is only looking at the short term of this industry and could care less about the damage it is doing to the entire industry. I have been around for many years, seen many of the studio ...
Home theaters weave way to Web.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby Obstacles include interoperability As consumers head to stores to buy the latest HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc devices this holiday season, chances are pretty good that many of those devices will come with an Internet connection and a way to seamlessly ...
Vivendi makes Genius move.(Vivendi Entertainment)(Genius Products)
Sep 14, 2009; ... By Susanne Ault Deal creates indie force with 3,000-plus titles Vivendi Entertainment is taking over the core home entertainment distribution operations of Genius Products and acquiring distribution rights to Genius' biggest DVD franchises, including World Wrestling ...
Scene and Noted.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Samantha Clark Nelson in charge of DC Entertainment Warner Premiere president Diane Nelson has been named to top DC Entertainment, a new theatrical, TV, DVD and digital division at Warner Bros. Nelson will step down from her role at Warner Premiere, the studio's ...
Apple adds DVD-style extras to iTunes.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby Company drops iPod prices Apple is making digital movies more equal to films on DVD, announcing at its fall keynote event in San Francisco last week that Twilight , Batman Begins , WALL-E and other select movies will include bonus features. ...
Starz stalks VOD.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby Starz Media debuted Rob Zombie's latest horror flick, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto , on video-on-demand Sept. 7, five days before it bowed in theaters and two weeks before it hits DVD. Superbeasto marks the first time Starz has released a film ...
Hulu forges Amazon links.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Jennifer Netherby Hulu should start charging for some content, News Corp. chief Chase Carey said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference in Marina Del Rey, Calif., last week. News Corp. is part owner of the site with NBC Universal and Disney. 'Ad-supported only is ...
Disney sets several Diamonds.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Studio will add Lion King, Little Mermaid to prestige Blu-ray line Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is expanding its high-end Blu-ray Disc line, the 'Diamond Collection,' to feature more than a dozen of the studio's animated classics, including ...
Pioneer tackles wider Web access.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Pioneer is developing an all-in-one set-top, dubbed 'Project ET,' that will combine Blu-ray Disc playback with expanded Web access and home theater control capabilities. Demonstrated at CEDIA, Project ET aims ...
LG to add Vudu to Blu-ray player.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Online movie service Vudu will be integrated into LG Electronics' BD390 Blu-ray Disc player, currently selling for $399. Vudu will join a ...
Sony readies streaming Blu-ray player.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Sony will launch its first Netflix-streaming Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-N460, this October. Announced at CEDIA, the model also ...
Netflix: Streaming draws subscribers back.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Danny King Many of Netflix's new subscribers are previous customers lured back by the video-streaming option, the company's chief financial officer, Barry McCarthy, told the Citigroup Investment Research Global Technology conference in New York last week. Netflix ...
Redbox has a net-positive impact.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Danny King Lionsgate president and co-chief operating officer Steve Beeks took a pragmatic approach to the growing debate over windows for movie-rental kiosks by striking a $158 million deal to let rental-kiosk leader Redbox rent its DVDs on street date. The agreement aligns ...
Disney's Up may bring Redbox deal down.(Walt Disney Co. Walt Disney Studios)(Brief article)
Sep 14, 2009; ... By Danny King Disney might change its release date terms with Redbox for the Disney/Pixar release of Up , which would cause the kiosk leader to make ...
Redbox parent adds kiosks at U.K. grocer.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Danny King Redbox parent Coinstar will install DVDXpress kiosks at 18 Tesco supermarkets in the U.K. The DVDXpress kiosks will charge a nightly rate of [pounds ...
Netflix freely streams Oz.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Samantha Clark Netflix is joining in the 70th anniversary celebrations of The Wizard of Oz . Warner Bros.' classic musical will be available for streaming for free through Netflix on Oct. 3 for 24 hours starting at 9 a.m. Through Netflix's Instant Watch service, The Wizard of ...
Top DVD Sellers.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended September 5, ...
Top Blu-ray Sellers.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended September 5, 2009 <Pre> Top Blu-ray Sellers -------------------------------------------- Rank Title (label/distributor) 1 GLADIATOR (PAR, $39.99) 2 BRAVEHEART (PAR, $39.99) 3 EARTH (DIS, ...
Top Blu-ray Renters.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended September 5, 2009 <Pre>Top Blu-ray Renters ------------------------------------------------- Rank Title (label/distributor) Index 1 STATE OF PLAY (UNI) 100.0 2 I LOVE YOU, MAN (PAR) ...
Top Download-to-Own.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended September 5, 2009 <Pre> Blockbuster Video ------------------------------------------- Rank Title (Label/Distributor, SRP) 1 DEXTER: S:3, EP. 5 (SHOWTIME, $1.99) 2 DEXTER: S:3, EP. 4 (SHOWTIME, $1.99) 3 DEXTER: S:3, ...
Top DVD Renters.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended September 5, ...
Top Specialized Renters.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Staff Week ended September 5, 2009 <Pre> Top Specialized Renters --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title (label/distributor) Index NONTHEATRICAL 1 ...
Nowhere to hide.
Sep 14, 2009 ... Cheryl Cheng From Drag Me to Hell to The Killing Room, there's always a place for horror Oct. 13 Drag Me to HellUNIVERSAL prebook now; DVD $29.98, BD $39.98 Horror: Sam Raimi's $42.1 million-grossing film starring Alison Lohman as a woman trying to ...
The Wizard of Oz - DVD and Blu-ray Review.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Marcy Magiera Warner Street: Sept. 29 Prebook: now > 8K remastering adds new texture to this colorful classic. To mark the 70th anniversary of what's arguably the most-loved American film of all time, Warner has packed its ...
Year One - DVD and Blu-ray Review.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Ed Hulse SONY Street: Oct. 6 Prebook: now > Raucous comedy has clever premise but relies heavily on crude gags. Despite its interesting comedic premise, Year One fails to realize its potential thanks to uneven scripting and the ...
Jack Brown Genius - DVD Review.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Cyril Pearl BARNHOLTZ/LIONSGATE Street: Oct. 13 Prebook: Sept. 16 > Early writing/producing effort from Peter Jackson. Co-written by The Lord of the Rings wizard Peter Jackson and his wife Frances Walsh, this 1994 New Zealand ...
Love N' Dancing - DVD Review.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Ed Hulse SCREEN MEDIA/GAIAM Street: Oct. 20 Prebook: > Pleasant but unexceptional dance movie hews close to formula. This by-the-numbers dance movie will skew to a slightly older audience than the genre normally attracts, if only ...
Private Century - DVD Review.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Cyril Pearl FACETS Street: Sept. 22 Prebook: now > Ambitious Czech project tracks the 20th century through home movies. Aired as an eight-part TV miniseries in the Czech Republic in 2006, Jan Sikl's Private Century is a ...
A Very Brave Witch … And More Great Halloween Stories for Kids - DVD Review.
Sep 14, 2009 ... By Pamela Brill WESTON WOODS/NEW VIDEO Street: Sept. 29 Prebook: now > Halloween classics for all-year viewing. Scholastic dips into its treasure trove of classic and modern Halloween fables for this collection. The result is eight ...
Apple ready to go Blu.(Brief article)
Sep 28, 2009; ... By Jennifer Netherby Or so the latest Apple rumors say. Apple Insider reports that Apple is on the verge of announcing its updated line of iMacs ...
All-in-one TV/Blu-ray players.
Sep 28, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Toshiba and Best Buy's in-house Insignia brand appears to be set to release combo HDTV/Blu-ray players in the near future. Blu-ray.com reports that Toshiba's combo will be demoed at the upcoming CES show. It'll be dubbed 'Cell Regza' and will be powered by the ...
Scene & Noted.(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment appoints Amy Heller )(Brief article)
Sep 28, 2009 ... By Staff SCENE : Amy Heller has been named VP of international at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . She will analyze SPHE global business and develop strategies to maximize performance. Heller will report to T. Paul Miller, the company's senior VP of ...
X-Men shows Q4 potential.
Sep 28, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Season kickoff title sets Blu-ray bar above 20% 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's X-Men Origins: Wolverine flexed its muscle at retail, where heavy Blu-ray Disc sales are brightening stores' holiday forecasts. The title is this year's ...
NPD: Blu-ray heading quickly to mainstream.
Sep 28, 2009 ... By Susanne Ault Blu-ray Disc should penetrate the mainstream by next year, according to an NPD Group analysis of the demographics of set-top player buyers. The research company analyzed the types of consumers using Blu-ray set-tops in February 2008 and those using ...