Watch Bubble in the theater, on DVD and on cable, but not if you live in New Jersey
By Richard Lawler 
posted January 19th 2006 2:45PM
posted January 19th 2006 2:45PM
Or any of the other dozen states where movie theaters have
refused to show the movie, fighting like the Luddites they
are to protect their antiquated way of doing business. Director Steven Soderbergh, in partnership with our friend
Mark Cuban and others is releasing his new movie
"Bubble" ("the
weirdest goddamn movie ever released by a major American filmmaker.") in theater, on cable and on DVD on the same
day, giving viewers the choice of how they want to experience it from the beginning, instead of artificial time
delays between each step.Immediate (or close to it) digital distribution is the future, and these theaters are silly to fight it. If they had any sense, they'd sell copies o the DVD on the way out. if they had offered me a copy of The Island as I exited the theater, I would have gladly dropped $20 more on top of what I had just spent on a ticket and popcorn.
Any HDBeat readers live in states that won't be getting a choice of how they want to see their movies?
That isn't a fair statement at all to movie theators. A movie theator has to pay for the movie to show it at their theator. They have to pay for the risk where the makers don't have any risk at all. They know they'll have a sale. I like the immediete release but lets not go pointing fingers when what theators are doing it prudent.
"If they had any sense, they'd sell copies o the DVD on the way out. if they had offered me a copy of The Island as I exited the theater, I would have gladly dropped $20 more on top of what I had just spent on a ticket and popcorn."
Now that is a bloody good idea!
Increased revenue, and a way to better gauge a movie's popularity. Heck, it might even persuade more people to actually go to the movies in the first place! I know I'd have gone to see Batman Begins (or other well hyped films) if I'd been able to buy the DVD afterwards.
To add to #2's comment - make it so you HAVE to buy a movie ticket to buy the DVD - that way, even if the person buys the ticket, buys the DVD, and leaves, the theater still makes some cash on the ticket and the DVD - and most people would see the movie anyway, and probably buy concessions.
Come on, is it really that hard :-)
Mike - I understand the movie theaters position, and to some point I sympathize with it. But right now, their entire stance is based on not giving me, the customer choice becuase they're worried about their bottom line. It is their right to be concerned about that, but it is also my right as a customer to ask for choice. There's no reason movies can't be released on DVD and in the theater on the same day.
The fact is, I can buy or download a bootleg and watch it at home the same day, so their position doesn't even really make sense, and it's going to get worse as time goes on. In my opinion, they are simply refusing to face the facts about todays marketplace and it is going to cost them whether they like it or not.