Soderbergh and Cuban close the movie release gap

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Soderbergh and Cuban close the movie release gap

BoingBoing has a good round-up of the news surrounding Steven Soderbergh and Mark Cuban's film release experiment, where they plan to release new films in theaters, pay-per-view, and on DVD on the exact same day, leaving it up to customers how they would like to see the film.

I think it's great to see a bold experiment like this take place with the once-sacred hollywood film release cycle. I've long felt that much of online film trading comes from film fans stuck in "The Great Gap" as I like to call it. The Great Gap is the timespan between when you go out and see a film you love and it soon leaves your local theater. A couple months later you think "man, I'd really love to see that again" but looking at Amazon, it won't be released for another 5-6 months on DVD. It's no longer in theaters, and you can't rent it, so you as a fan of that film are trapped in the Gap.

I'm all for more experimentation in Hollywood, I believe there's a significant amount of people that are film fans first and foremost, willing to pay for the films they view, but often are stuck in the old business models that create things like The Great Gap and have to resort to scoring a copy online while they await the DVD release with bonus extras. So it's good to see a great director like Soderbergh partner with a brilliant businessman like Cuban and try something new in Tinseltown.

And if I could be selfish here for a second, as a new father, I would love to be able to see new films on DVD in my high tech home theater than wait six months for release to DVD. I doubt my wife and I will see the final Star Wars in a theater this time around, but it would have been nice if I could see it at home and share in the post-film water cooler discussions that are sure to follow the release.

by Matt Haughey May 5, 2005 in News

Comments

I agree completely with this model. People who will buy the DVD on release day will be paying at least twice the cost of theater admission. So the studios will still be getting their money.

The negative:
- Theater ticket sales MIGHT go down. (i predict no measurable change.)

- People usually pay to see it in theaters, then buy it 6 months later. Now they only need to pay once. (Again I predict people will still see it in theaters and buy it if they like it)

Posted by: steve at May 5, 2005 3:29:48 PM

Hmm...interesting thought, but what gets me is releasing it on PPV at the same time. That's what I think has the real chance of hurting ticket sales. For many comedies and dramas I feel no real need to see them on the big screen, but might just because I don't feel like waiting a few months for the video release. But if I could see them on PPV (I can't, because I don't want to subscribe to digital cable) for $4 or so for the whole family, or spend $40 to go to the theatre...well I think economics would probably start to take arole there and I'd be going out to the movies a lot less...

Anyway, I too like any experimentation that goes on with the delivery model, so I'll be glad to watch this unfold. I'm just not entirely convinced that this will make good economic sense for the studios, at least with the current pricing structure.

-Dylan

Posted by: Dylan at May 5, 2005 3:44:18 PM

Oops, guess I need to read the article first. I see that they are talking about charging a premium for these new release features, and higher than I expected.

-Dylan

Posted by: Dylan at May 5, 2005 3:49:46 PM

Does this mean DVD release dates will be shifted away from tuesday or that theatre first run dates will be modified? Wouldn't there need to be a coordinated effort from the retailer, distributor, and megaplex companies to make this work like Cuban envisions?

Posted by: Travis at May 6, 2005 12:10:01 PM

Isn't the present model like hearing a new song you really like and having to wait 6 months to buy it?

Posted by: Debbi at May 7, 2005 4:20:00 AM

To take that analogy further, I guess it'd be like hearing about a song you like, and being forced to go see the band live if you want to hear it, or you can wait six months to listen at home.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at May 7, 2005 8:05:18 AM

In some of our market research on theatrical windows, we found that a surprising number of individuals make up their mind after they first see a trailer whether or not they will watch the film in a theater, on DVD, or on cable. This would suggest that instead of cannibalizing box office, shortening the window would best lever marketing dollars.

Bill Fischer
www.dvdstation.com

Posted by: bill fischer at May 9, 2005 2:25:03 PM

Honestly, I believe this issue is about more than just economics; it's an issue that could potentially change the future of how we view movies. I can easily see a world fifteen/twenty years from now where people no longer feel it necessary to go out and watch a newly released movie on the big screen when they can conveniently watch it from the comfort of their own homes. In my opinion, this is a damn shame. It just gives people another excuse to be lazy. Not only that, it's killing tradition. The theater is a blessing. It is a place where we can go out to with friends and family and hang out to watch a movie. But if this new way of releasing films out straight to dvd simultaneously takes over the industry, there is a great chance theaters will lose a ton of business and perhaps seize to exist. We just can't lose that part of our culture. As a filmmaker, I'd have to go with M. Night Shyamalan (who "alarmed by Soderbergh's plan to make six high-definition video movies for same-day release, pubicly vowed he'd rather forsake filmmaking altogether than see his movies debut on the small screen" (Claudia Eller-"Hollywood Hits Home)) on this one. Maybe I'm just bitching, but I really hope people can see where I'm coming from.

Posted by: whatHAPPENED? at Jan 30, 2006 4:58:31 PM

I disagree strongly: Simultaneous releases generally means people have more of a *choice*. Also indie filmmakers (I'm talking no-budget filmmakers) have a greater chance of making money back if the DVD/internet's market popularity increases.

I think we'll always have cinema, for a long time to come at least.

Posted by: Tom at May 12, 2007 2:27:37 PM

Soderbergh and Cuban close the movie release gap

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