New Line boosts third Destination

Gives unprecendented interactivity to disc for latest movie in franchise

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/4/2006

New Line's Final Destination 3: Thrill Ride Edition gives viewers a chance to change the story.

APRIL 4 | With high-definition discs on the brink of launching, New Line Home Entertainment is delivering unprecedented bonus features in the July 23 Final Destination 3 DVD that could rival the interactivity on the next-generation formats.

With the Final Destination 3: Thrill Ride Edition, viewers will be able to choose between dozens of different fates for characters via a combination of newly filmed alternate scenes. At a budget of $700,000 to $1 million, the extras are meant to continue the movie’s story line, in which characters are able to foresee the way they will die.

This spring/early summer is the all-important launch period for both the HD DVD and Blu-ray high-def formats, and a critical selling point for both is the promise of superior bonus features to standard DVDs.

But initial titles on both formats won’t offer additional bonus features that aren’t also on the standard DVD version.

“We’re not trying to make a statement about one format over the other,” high-def vs. standard, said Mike Mulvihill, New Line senior VP of content development. “But the statement we are making is that New Line takes the technology seriously whatever the format is.”

Many DVD producers are thrilled to score an extras budget of just $500,000, much less than the up to $1 million given to this release. Mulvihill said the additional funds were necessary so the studio could involve the director and cast in creating the new material.

Final Destination has been a winning franchise for New Line. This latest $25 million-budgeted installment earned $50 million in U.S. theatrical grosses.

“Our thinking is this will translate into incremental sales,” Mulvihill said of the ‘choose-your-fate’ option. “We can’t put a fine point on it, but our expectation with all of our added value is that it broadens the appeal of the movie to a wider audience.”

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