Warner to Get Smart for DVD premiere

Also will bow Babylon 5 movie based on TV series

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/27/2007

APRIL 27 | In a unique made-for-DVD strategy, Warner Home Video will spin a DVD premiere off upcoming theatrical Get Smart just days after the comedy bows on the big screen. Prior to that, the studio also will bow its first DVD premiere extension of a TV franchise, Babylon 5.

Get Smarter: Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control will hit retail on July 1, 2008, following the June 20, 2008, theatrical bow of Get Smart. Most studio franchise extensions, including Warner prequel The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, street many months after their theatrical inspiration.

With Get Smarter, production arm Warner Premiere aims to raise the direct-to-DVD bar by releasing a film closely tied to the original installment. Andrew Lazar, Charles Roven and Alex Gartner are producing both the Steve Carell theatrical and the DVD premiere. Masi Oka and Nate Torrance, from TV’s Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, respectively, star in both.

“This is a parallel content strategy, and I’m not aware of any studios doing this before,” said Diane Nelson, president of Warner Premiere. “We’re elevating the overall category of direct-to-DVD, finding opportunities for projects with really strong equity.”

Get Smarter is budgeted at the high-end of Warner Premiere’s typically modest range of $3.5 million to $5.5 million. Warner is looking to save on the usual direct-to-DVD marketing expenses by so closely piggybacking on the launch of the theatrical Get Smart.

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, bowing July 31 of this year, is WHV and Warner Bros. Television’s first DVD premiere that continues one of its TV series’ story lines. New episodes of Babylon 5 ran between 1993 and 1998 on Sci Fi. Lost Tales will be priced at $24.98, with preorders due June 26.

Warner is taking some risk, as Get Smarter is set for release despite whether Get Smart winds up succeeding at the box office. Get Smart started filming earlier this month, and writers are still fine-tuning a script for Get Smarter.

“We didn’t randomly choose this,” said Nelson. “We believe it’s an outstanding script for the studio.”

Nelson added that Warner Premiere is already in the works on a second DVD premiere that will run parallel with a theatrical launch. It is set for a 2009 release, but Nelson declined to elaborate further.

Lost Tales also isn’t a slam dunk, as much time has passed since Babylon 5’s Sci Fi run. However, WHV and WBT believe fans will be eager for Lost Tales because it uses filmmaking technology unavailable during the broadcast run of Babylon 5.

The title was written and directed by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and stars the original cast, including Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward.

“Although the show has been off the air for a few years, it continues to have a fervent fan base that is eager for this new installment,” said Jeff Brown, WHV senior VP and general manager of TV, animation and family.

Other studios have spun DVD premieres off TV shows. Fox extended Family Guy with the direct-to-DVD Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin—The Untold Story , and MGM is readying two new DVD installments of Stargate SG-1, The Arc of Truth and Continuum.