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'Boss Baby' sequel hits Peacock and theaters simultaneously on July 2nd
Universal helped bring the movie theater business back from COVID-19 with F9, but it's doing things differently with 'The Boss Baby: Family Business.'
Universal is releasing movies in theaters and at home on the same day
Movie studios have spent years considering releasing their films for home viewing at the same time they're in theaters, but have usually withdrawn those plans based on complaints by the theater chains. Now, with people staying home and theaters closing due to the coronavirus pandemic, Universal Pictures will be the first to try the scheme by offering movies that are currently in theaters for home rental at a price of $19.99 for a 48-hour viewing window. The first movies offered will start popping up on Friday, with The Hunt, Invisible Man and Emma available internationally via "a wide variety of the most popular on-demand services." It appears the Vudu is on the list, and we'd assume that other big names like iTunes and Amazon Video will also participates. The first movie to premiere under the new setup will be Trolls World Tour on April 20th.
Napster founder is making a day-and-date movie release service
Sean Parker, Napster co-founder and ex-Facebook president, is cooking up another big project. According to Variety, he and Prem Akkaraju (an exec at SFX Entertainment, Inc.) have recently pitched a premium day-and-date movie release service to studio representatives. It's reportedly called "the Screening Room," and the duo promised studios that it can protect the movies with a secure anti-piracy technology.
Redbox, Sony extend distribution deal, keep the movies flowing with no delays
While Redbox's parent company Coinstar rejoiced over earnings results that showed revenue growth that was partially due to last year's price hike, the kiosk movie renter had more good news after extending its DVD licensing deal with Sony Pictures. This means Redbox can rent Sony movies the same day they go on sale in stores and has the option to license Blu-ray movies as well through September 2014, when Sony will have the option of two one-year extensions. We'll still have to wait and see if it can work out an arrangement with Warner and Disney, and what its streaming service has to offer, but more new movies right away is always good.
Trine 2 will be available for Mac on Dec. 7
Puzzle-based action/platformer Trine 2 is coming out this week, and developer Frozenbyte has announced that the Mac version will drop alongside the Windows version on Steam. If you want to get a copy outside of the Steam system, you'll have to wait until sometime next year, but even with the "DRM," Steam is usually a good choice to go with, even on a Mac. Frozenbyte is of course no stranger to Mac gaming, having just recently released a solid bundle for the Mac (as well as other platforms like Windows and Linux -- which is actually getting Trine 2 later on anyway). Trine 2 is looking like a really terrific game, expanding on the first title in the series by adding in new puzzles and puzzle types, making the lush graphics look even better, and including full online or local co-op gameplay. Trine 2 will be unlocked on December 7 -- it's $15 for the standard game, or $24.99 for a collector's edition that includes an art book and soundtrack. [via MacNN]
DC announces digital comics will arrive day-and-date with print versions
DC Comics made a huge announcement yesterday regarding its entire line of comic books, basically saying that on August 31, the company will restart 52 of its weekly publications, bringing them all back to issue number 1 and making significant story (and costume!) changes to many of its popular superheroes like Batman and Superman. But even more importantly for those of us in the comic-loving real world, the company will start publishing digital versions of its comics at the same time that print versions hit the shelves (known in the movie/video rental business as 'day-and-date' release). Previously, both Marvel and DC have held back from publishing digital and print versions at the same time, mostly to give comic book stores and bookstores a chance to sell print copies exclusively. But no more, in DC's case -- as of August 31, you'll be able to buy new comics on the iPad at the same time as in the stores. That might be the beginning of a death knell for a lot of comic book stores, but clearly DC has determined it's time to make the jump. It hasn't been revealed yet exactly how these digital issues will be available, but I'm guessing the DC Comics iPad app will have most of them for purchase. Good news for comic readers on the iPad, and I bet we'll see Marvel follow suit with a similar announcement soon.
Disney to release Tangled on Blu-ray and 3D March 29th
As promised, Disney has scheduled the release of Tangled in Blu-ray (two disc) and Blu-ray 3D (four disc) combo forms with a $40 and $50 MSRP (currently available for $24.99 and $29.99, respectively, on Amazon) on the same day, March 29th. It's the first animated flick from Disney to come home day-and-date on 3D with 7.1 audio, behind the scenes featurette, deleted scenes, extended songs two alternate versions of the opening and a montage celebrating it as the 50th animated classic from Disney. Trailer and more details are after the break.
Lionsgate first to sign content deal with XStreamHD
XStreamHD is the videophile's digital distribution dream, but a dream is what it has remained for almost three years. The bad news is the 1TB Whole Home Media Server and clients aren't shipping yet, but the good news is one of the big studios has signed a deal with XStreamHD to distribute titles day and date with DVD, as well as access to 12,000 catalog titles. This, of course, has to be one of many such deals if the service is to be successful -- high quality 1080p video and DTS-HD alone won't be enough. The content isn't the only thing that concerns us though, as the up front cost for hardware (we admit we really like the user interface) and the $9 monthly service fee is a lot to swallow for the privilege of renting movies at $3 to $6 a pop. We'll reserve judgment until we get to play with it for ourselves, but distribution deals like this and a great demo is a good start, if you can call it at start after all this time. The full details are tucked in the press release after the jump.
Paramount, Redbox keep DVDs and Blu-ray discs in kiosks the same day they go on sale
It looks like not all of the remaining Hollywood studios are putting the 30-day brakes on providing movies to Redbox, as Paramount has concluded after a ten month study that it has "minimal" effect on DVD sales. Dennis Maguire, President of Paramount Home Entertainment says the company is "allowing the consumer a choice of how to consume our movies while maximizing the profitability of our releases in the home entertainment window" while Redbox prez Mitch Lowe looked forward to joint marketing programs. That puts another studio on deck to provide the Blu-ray rentals we're expecting to see later this year and is a pretty sharp contrast to recent deals with Fox and Warner delaying low cost rentals to protect their day one sales and premium rentals on video on-demand.
Universal, Fox and Summit close VOD-DVD release gap
About two months after a Lionsgate executive spoke out about the phenomenon of day-and-date DVD / VOD releases, and merely days after we heard that digital distribution wasn't expected to overtake packaged media in the near term comes this. Universal, Fox and Summit have all pledged to close or eliminate entirely the gap between when a title is shipped on DVD and when it's available in on-demand form via iTunes or programming providers. At least with some titles, that is. The move is supposedly being made in order to take advantage of the growing thirst for instant gratification when it comes to films, and rather than getting left behind, these three are choosing to adapt to changing customer desires. Not surprisingly, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is still sticking to a 30 day (or so) delay before it releases a title to VOD, but considering its Q4 figures, it might want to consider hopping on the bandwagon.
Showtime's United States of Tara hitting Netflix Watch Instantly first
Boy, these content guardians sure are getting brave. First was Friday Night Lights debuting on DirecTV's The 101 weeks before network TV, and now Showtime's United States of Tara is scheduled to be available first via Netflix's Watch Instantly service. The series premiere will be made available on January 8th to Netflix subscribers, while it won't be aired on Showtime until Sunday, January 18th at 10:00PM. Also of note, it appears that the show will air on DirecTV's The 101 channel on January 9th, possibly indicating that Showtime is keenly interested in gauging interest in exclusive pre-launches. Finally, we're told that season premiers of The L Word and Secret Diary of a Call Girl will hit Netflix customers day-and-date (January 18th) with the network debuts. We're beginning to wonder if Netflix can do any wrong.[Thanks, Vanbrothers]
Roku digital video player adding Amazon Video On Demand
Roku owners looking to go discless are one step closer, now that Amazon Video On Demand will be available on the box after a free software update in early 2009. Fulfilling the promise of more "big name" providers to come, flicks like The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express or any of Amazon's 40,000 other titles can be purchased and played back to the TV for a 24 hour window. The bad news? Max bitrate is an h.264 compressed 1200Kbps. Not bad if SD only is your bag, but we're even more eagerly awaiting another Amazon VOD HD rumor.
FCC chairman "doesn't support" Hollywood's request for selectable output
In December of 2007, we candidly wondered if 2008 would be the year for selectable output control. We reckon we should re-pose the question with "2008" replacing "2007." Broadcasting and Cable is reporting that Kevin Martin doesn't support Hollywood's request for selectable outputs, noting that the final decision would have to wait for the next chairman. It's widely expected that Martin will step down just days before Obama is sworn in, but in the January 15th meeting on the topic, he'll likely stifle the MPAA's plans. For those unaware, SOC would enable content to hit HD VOD outlets before DVD, but in exchange, it would only be allowed out of the set-top-box via encrypted digital outputs. Obviously, those with older TV sets wouldn't be able to take advantage, thus the chairman's hesitation to allow it. Maybe next year, Big Content.[Via LA Times, image courtesy of DansData]
Tsutaya online video portal to allow HD-to-optical disc burning
For all the digital download pundits who are quick to harp on the "limited viewing window" of downloadable material, chew on this. In a move that can only be described as "miraculous progress," Japan's own Tsutaya has somehow twisted the arms of four US film companies in order to allow HD content to be recorded to Blu-ray Discs or other optical media (up to two times) for later viewing. Initially, the Tsutaya TV on acTVila will have around half of its library (412 titles and growing) available for burning, and while details are somewhat fuzzy, we are told that HDTV video can be exported "without down-conversion" to BD-Rs, DVD-Rs and iVDR-S media. Of course, AACS protection will be applied, but this is infinitely more convenient than that whole Qflix disaster. Better still, we're told that future improvements will include down-converting HD content for use on portable devices (think Digital Copy), and it's anticipated that the downloadable films will be available day-and-date with hard copy releases. The rub? Each film will cost around ¥3,675 ($40), so for now, you're still better off heading to the store. Still -- focus on the progress, people, progress.
Lionsgate exec speaks on day-and-date DVD / VOD releases
Day-and-date VOD / DVD releases -- occasions where a film is released on disc and via video-on-demand channels simultaneously -- have been happening on a small scale for awhile now, and according to a bigwig at Lionsgate, it'll remain that way for some time to come. While speaking at the annual Global Media and Communications Conference, Michael Burns told the crowd that "retail relationships were still too important for studios" when asked about the subject, noting that "we don't want to piss off retailers." Not a surprising stance for a studio vice chairman to take, we guess, but an unfortunate one regardless; holding up progress on the digital delivery front for fear of retailer rebuttal? Puhlease.
Magnolia Pictures' The Architect to hit theaters and discs December 5
Mark Cuban has been pushing for day-and-date releases and giving customers choices on how they want to experience content; for those who decide to check out The Architect when it's released they will certainly have plenty of choices. With a day-and-date theatrical, cable, DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray release you can check it out on any format you want -- no BitTorrent Mark? -- but it remains to be seen if this type of release will spread to other studios. The Architect is a film about a mother who is trying to get the housing project where she lives torn down and rebuilt, and brings the original architect to see what has become of it. No word on any HD extras, the DVD has an MSRP of $28.98 while the high definition versions are set for $34.98[Via MovieWeb]
Paramount officially announces M:i:III simultaneous Blu-ray, HD DVD & DVD release
We may be able to forgive Paramount for the relatively small number of high-def discs they plan to release this year as they have announced what appears to be only the second tri-format day-and-date release on Blu-ray, HD DVD & DVD, after The Lake House. Mission: Impossible III will come on HD DVD with all the special features we told you about on the same day as the standard-def DVD release, but it will also come out on Blu-ray complete with high-def extras, DD+ soundtracks and all...except for the HD DVD-exclusive picture-in-picture enhanced commentary from star Tom Cruise and director J.J. Abrams. The MSRP is set at $19.99 for the standard DVD, $24.99 for the collectors edition, and $29.99 for both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Blu-ray fans finally have a blockbuster to look forward to this winter, unfortunately they're still coming up short on the extras, we have to wonder if the home release of Superman Returns will suffer the same cuts.
The Lake House will be the first movie to debut on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD on the same day
The romantic drama The Lake House starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock will be a day-and-date release on HD DVD & Blu-ray with the standard DVD version on September 26. The HD DVD version will be a combo DVD/HD DVD disc meaning only 15GB of storage for the high definition film, while the Blu-ray edition will ship on a single-layer 25GB Blu-ray disc. The space difference hasn't been a problem so far on HD DVD so we don't expect it will be here. No word on any extras yet although we can probably expect the same ones as the standard-def DVD release. The HD DVD version will be priced slightly higher in line with other combo releases, but have the ability to play in a regular DVD player. Much like the first combo disc released for HD DVD, Rumor Has It, we're really puzzled by the choice of movie but welcome the trend of films coming out on next-generation formats without any delay.
Warner's first HD-DVD/DVD combo disc, additional titles announced
HD-DVD is moving the movement, with their latest announcement that we will see the first back-and-forwards compatible movie hitting store shelves May 9. Rumor Has It (which I have never heard of) will contain a high definition version on one side and a standard definition DVD on the other. The second piece of good news is that it will premiere on the same day as the standard definition release. The bad news is that this hybrid disc is going to cost you $39.99, a 135% premium over just the standard DVD as eHomeupgrade points out.Also announced today for HD-DVD release are Goodfellas, Swordfish and Training Day, all of which will cost $28.99.Now we'll see if anyone is really interested in future-proofing their DVD library, especially at such a price. Blu-ray also has similar types of discs on the way; with neither format expected to gain that much traction in its first year, getting consumers to build up libraries of content and locked into a format early could be key. That said, content will mark the true victor in the next generation wars, and with the "special features" provided by Eva Mendes and Halle Berry I see where Warner is going early and I kind of like it.
