Studios experiment with earlier DVD release, cinemas enraged

Warner and Disney have both announced to intend to shorten the gap between theatrical release and DVD release of the movies 'Guardians of Ga'hoole' and ‘Alice’ respectively. Movies are normally shown in theatres for a period of at least four months exclusively before they are released on other formats. With customers pushing for rapid release for on-demand services and piracy looming, the traditional windowed distribution is under pressure. Disney and Warner now plan to release the movies above on DVD and for on demand channels three months after the theatrical premier.

Cinemas have cried out against the plans voiced by Disney and Warner. They fear that earlier availability of DVDs will cost them customers. The business model of movie theatres is based on sharing revenue with the studios. As a movie is shown in theatres longer, the percentage of revenue to go to the cinema goes up. This was devised to create an incentive for cinemas to show movies as long as long as possible.

However, as the patterns in movie consumption are changing, studios look for ways to meet the change in demand. Cinemas in The Netherlands have announced to plan to boycott Alice entirely as a protest. According to Pathé spokesperson Youri Bredewold, cinemas across Europe, as well as big distributors in the US will join the boycott. 

Despite the arguments of cinemas, studios are looking for ways to adapt to changing user needs in the online environment.

The studio representatives stressed that it is not a sign of an impending shift towards revising the windowed release system, but rather incidental decisions to prevent a DVD release in a season in which low sales are predicted. "It is important for us to maintain a healthy business on the exhibition side and a healthy business on the home video side," said Disney’s Distribution President Bob Chapek. "We remain committed to theatrical windows, with the need for exceptions to accommodate a shortened time frame on a case-by-case basis."

15 February 2010