DVD premiere movies get more attention
Almost every major studio releasing big-budget titles
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 8/7/2008
AUG. 7 | A juggernaut of big-budget DVD premiere movies is headed to stores in the second half of 2008 and 2009, with the unprecedented breadth of offerings including titles from just about every major studio.
As the cost to produce and market theatrical films continues to rise, nearly all the majors are supplementing their theatrical releases with high-profile fare made for DVD, building on a trend of the past several years. These titles, many franchise sequels, often have much higher-profile and bigger budgets than traditional straight-to-video genre fare but are less expensive to bring to retail than major theatrical releases.
The new crop of DVD premiere “tentpoles” includes Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Starship Troopers 3: Marauder; MGM Home Entertainment’s Stargate: Continuum, which shot at the North Pole among other locations; Warner Premiere sequels The Lost Boys: The Tribe and Another Cinderella Story; Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Futurama: Bender’s Game. Previously stalled franchises are being resurrected, such as Universal’s plans to release the first new Beethoven in five years by the end of 2008.
“The direct-to-DVD movie is as old as the DVD business itself,” MGM president Eric Doctorow said. “But what has happened in the last three years is that you can’t make any old movie and throw it together and expect the consumer to buy and rent it.”
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment made-for-DVD movie Snow Buddies is ranked within this year’s Top 10 overall disc sellers, trumping a number of theatrical discs.
“You shouldn’t be able to tell the difference” between a theatrical film and a major studio DVD premiere, said Lori MacPherson, general manager of North America for Disney, which will launch Tinker Bell, the first installment in a planned four-film original DVD series, on Oct. 28. “There are only so many theatrical spots, and we need to make things that debut on other platforms. We never say, ‘This will be made directly for DVD and we won’t put as much effort into it.’”
Consumers pay $17.75 for a title within this franchise-focused, made-for-DVD subset, according to NPD Group. Like theatrical new releases DVDs, that price is at a premium to the average $15.82 disc price. NPD also notes that the biggest reported motivator to purchase branded made-for-DVD movies is from viewing TV ads, which similarly form a key part of theatrical DVD blitzes.
These original DVD projects are supported with increasingly flashy marketing campaigns. Comic-Con 2008’s headlining film premiere was Stargate: Continuum on top of an aircraft carrier, arguably topping the previous year’s marquee screening of theatrical 300 at San Diego’s Petco Park stadium. A large chunk of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Comic-Con slate was made-for-DVD-movie panels and events, including a roving big rig to hype Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead, streeting Oct. 7.
“Everybody has to remain competitive, and one of the ways to do this is to elevate our productions,” said Tom Siegrist, Fox production VP. “With Joy Ride, I think we were really able to get a great up-and-coming cast, with Nicki Aycox and Nick Zano, and really let them find their characters. It didn’t used to be that way with direct-to-video, where people would punch the clock and bail. We are really bringing the A-game.”
Fox plans to make Behind Enemy Lines 3: Colombia stand out by using its World Wrestling Entertainment stars for cross-promotional efforts.
“In the ring and on the air around the country, WWE offers us a wide range of opportunities to go after a fan base,” said Rio Cyrus, Fox VP of brand marketing.
Universal expects its original DVD productions to behave on the shelf like $40 million- to $60 million-grossing theatrical DVDs. Its Scorpion King 2, with a $5 million to $10 million budget, is the studio’s most ambitious DVD original yet, said Glenn Ross, executive VP/general manager of Universal’s made-for-DVD business.
“We filmed on location in South Africa, built an arena and a town and a seaport,” Ross said of the film, debuting Aug. 19. “As producers and actors start to see the quality of these originals, they want to work with us, and we’re getting a higher and higher level of talent. Just before directing Scorpion King 2, Russel Mulcahey directed [2007 theatrical] Resident Evil: Extinction.”
Ross promises the fifth Beethoven installment will be “reinvented.” The studio also has another Bring It On in the works.
Lionsgate began promoting Sept. 2 release Bratz: Girls Really Rock with an April in-theater ad campaign, marking the earliest start to hyping a release in the franchise, now in its fifth installment.
“What builds brands is marketing,” said Michael Rathauser, Lionsgate VP of home video marketing. “And it’s harder and harder to get space and have success at retail with something non-branded.”
Although quality is climbing, studios are mostly practicing a less is more approach when it comes to the quantity of releases. Because of a maturing DVD market, even a sequel with a name cast might flounder on shelves.
Warner Premiere has scaled back its output goals in the two years since the division's launch. The unit, which distributes through Warner Home Video, hopes to release 10 to 12 disc originals each year, down from initial plans of 12 to 15.
“We want to keep a close eye on whether the market can bear this many titles,” said Diane Nelson, Warner Premiere president.
To efficiently push their products, which include just released The Lost Boys: The Tribe and Sept. 16 Another Cinderella Story, Warner Premiere creates inexpensive but clutter-breaking marketing. For example, Lost Boys star Corey Feldman appeared on E! TV show Talk Soup to hype the DVD.
“Corey Feldman doing that didn’t cost us anything, and that was the very intention on our part,” said Nelson. “We judiciously spend to break-through.”|
Release Date |
Title (Label/Distributor) |
|
July 29 |
Stargate: Continuum (MGM/Fox) |
|
|
The Lost Boys: The Tribe (Warner) |
|
Aug. 5 |
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (Sony) |
|
Aug. 19 |
Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (Universal) |
|
Sept. 2 |
Bratz: Girls Really Rock (Lionsgate) |
|
Sept. 16 |
Another Cinderella Story (Warner) |
|
Oct. 28 |
Tinker Bell (Disney) |
|
Nov. 4 |
Futurama: Bender’s Game (Fox) |
|
Late 2008 |
New Beethoven installment (Universal) |
|
|
Resident Evil: Degeneration (Sony) |
|
|
The Clique (Warner) |
|
Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (Fox) |
|
|
2009 |
Behind Enemy Lines 3: Colombia (Fox) |
|
|
Legally Blonde 3 (MGM/Fox) |
|
|
Tales of the Black Freighter, related to theatrical Watchmen (Warner) |
|
|
The Hills Run Red (Warner) |
|
Scooby-Doo: In the Beginning (Warner) |
|
|
|
Space Buddies (Disney) |
