Disney gets risqué with Unrated release of ‘Badder Santa’
Disney Home Entertainment will be releasing an unrated cut of ‘Bad Santa’ tentative titled ‘Badder Santa: Unrated Edition’ on Blu-Ray, High-Def Digest reports. While the release date is set for November 20th, the raunchy details of the disc’s contents are still under wraps. With the former Buena Vista Units all now bearing the Disney moniker, Dimension no longer a Disney Label, and Touchstone long buried, Disney doesn’t really have an appropriate label for gross-out comedy anymore.
To date, all versions of ‘Bad Santa’ have sold more than 1.38 million units on DVD, according to Nielsen Videoscan.
Best Buy partners with the Rolling Stones on DVD Exclusive
The Rolling Stones and Best Buy have partnered on a new exclusive DVD Release for the second time in four years, according to Businesswire. Called The Biggest Bang, this four DVD set of the Stones’ recent record-breaking tour will be available starting June 12 for $29.99 exclusively at Best Buy’s retail and online stores. The Biggest Bang features duets with Dave Matthews, Bonnie Raitt and Eddie Vedder, among others, and features over 50 songs and footage from around the world. Previously, Best Buy released Four Flicks, a 19-times platinum Rolling Stones set that remains the number one selling concert DVD in U.S. history according to Nielsen Soundscan.
The release comes at the height of the “retail exclusive” trend. With price search engines on the web leveling the playing field, retailers have been pressured to come up with limited, exclusive versions or outright exclusive releases to help drive traffic to lagging retailers. In the past year, Best Buy has been at the forefront with home entertainment exclusives, with some notable releases being The Office Severance Package, a Scrubs bonus DVD, and a two week Apple iTV exclusive. While a boon for retailers, these special releases are making DVD distributors work harder (and less profitably) for what amounts to similar buying levels from DVD’s sales peak in 2005. That being said, the collaborative nature of these projects has strengthened the distributor-buyer relationship, and has helped to make distributors become more customer-centric.
Report: PC Usage for Movie Downloading and Viewing Rises
According to a new report titled “At the Click of a Mouse” by Solutions Research Group, the PC is morphing from a work-related device to a digital “life hub,” with movie downloading and viewing being a core activity. According to the study, 47% of US-based PC users watched DVDs on their computers in May 2007, up from 29% last October. Over 15% of users had downloaded a full-length movie from the web (although only 8% of those were paid downloads.) The report also notes that 66% of surveyed consumers believe that one day, “all movies will be available at the click of a mouse,” with nearly three quarters of those between 30-49 believing the statement to be true.
Despite the enthusiasm, the report notes that only 30% of consumers have visited the movie sections at iTunes, with even less (under 10%) for WalMart and Amazon’s Unbox. Netflix is showing some promise out of the gate, however, with one in three users of that service having used their online instant viewing feature in the last month.
To download a PDF summary sheet of the research report, click here.
Fox and Peach Arch team with Reader's Digest Family Films to Produce 'Ace of Hearts'
This week, production began on ‘Ace of Hearts’, the first release under the new Reader’s Digest Family Films brand, according to a company press release. Peach Arch Entertainment is producing the film and will handle international distribution, while Fox will handle domestic marketing and distribution. Reader’s Digest will leverage its 40 million subscriber base (the largest magazine in America) via direct marketing, print and online promotions worldwide. The company also plans on leveraging its 26 other publications and web properties. The deal was brokered by the William Morris Agency and the Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Stiffelman, Gilbert-Lurie, Cook, Johnson & Wolf law firm. Starring Dean Cain, ‘Ace of Hearts’ is a family adventure film following the adventures of a cop and his loyal German Shepard as they battle forces with a pack of wily criminals out for revenge. The film is tentatively slated for an early 2006 release. The script is based on a story that originally appeared in Reader’s Digest in 2002.
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