New Line Teams with PixelPlay for 'Fried Worms' DishGAMES Promotion

PixelPlay and New Line Cinema have partnered to offer a 'How to Eat Fried Worms' game on PixelPlay's DishGAMES service, available via the DISH Network, according to a joint press release.

Gamers will have the chance to win 10 different prizes, and the top three scorers will win a "Worms Prize Package" featuring a Samsung portable DVD player, 10 movie tickets from Fandango, a New Line DVD Pack, a ‘Fried Worms’ movie poster and a 17 piece stainless steel cookware set, ostensibly to cook up homemade worm delicacies. The game went live on the service last Friday in tandem with the film’s theatrical release.

The game is available free to all DISH Network subscribers, which currently number over 12.4 million throughout the U.S. The promotion will be available on the service for the remainder of the summer.

New Line Decides Against Critics' Screenings for 'Snakes on a Plane'

According to Variety, New Line has decided to forgo any pre-release screenings of their upcoming horror film 'Snakes on A Plane.'

In a move calculated to reduce the chances of any poor critical reviews or buzz-killing word of mouth, the earliest the public and critics alike will be able to see the film is Thursday night on August 17th. No press screenings or sneaks will be available.

Holding back press screenings for genre and action fare has become a common practice lately, mostly because the films' core audience is typically made up of genre fans who don’t read newspaper reviews. However, for the rest of the public, a lack of early reviews is starting to be interpreted as "this film sucks." New Line is spinning this move as “a chance for fans to see the film first.” However, if you look at past films that have withheld press screenings, it doesn’t bode well for the quality of 'Snakes.'

Recent films that have withheld press screenings include: 'Aeon Flux,' 'Cursed,' 'Phat Girlz,' 'Scary Movie 4,' 'See no Evil', 'The Benchwarmers,' 'The Fog,' 'The Hills Have Eyes,' 'Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion,' 'Ultraviolet,' 'Underworld: Evolution', and 'When a Stranger Calls.'

If we've missed any, please add them in the comments.

New Line Pulls Racy Viral Marketing Game for 'Running Scared'

Without an announcement, New Line has pulled the sexually-themed portion of the flash game on the 'Running Scared' website, according to Variety. The move comes amidst pressure from the National Institute on Media and the Family, who had made several requests to pull the game. While the game generated considerable buzz throughout the blogosphere (as can be seen here) those conversations didn't translate into box office dollars for the Paul Walker action vehicle -- 'Running Scared' generated a paltry $3.4 million during its opening weekend.

Vets Upset over 'Wedding Crashers' Purple Heart Promo

According to Adrants, a tongue-in-cheek viral game for 'The Wedding Crashers' urging the use of the Purple Heart medal to score chicks has angered Veterans' groups:

Part of the promotional website for the Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn movie Wedding Crashers and a scene within the movie makes reference to the Purple Heart, a military medal of honor. The movie, which, remember, is a movie and not real life, pokes fun at the medal by claiming it gets a guy attention if he wears one with the line, "Carrying a Purple Heart in your jacket guarantees you attention, admiration and plenty of free booze."

Wearing, manufacturing, buying, selling or trading a Medal of Honor is a crime. [Congressman] Salazar's Stolen Valor Act, introduced Friday, would expand the law to include more medals and would allow prosecution of anyone who falsely claims to have earned a military medal or a Purple Heart.

His office drew attention to the Web site. On Monday, he claimed victory.

"If any movie-goers take the advice of the 'Wedding Crashers' and try to use fake Purple Hearts to get girls, they may wind up picking up an FBI agent instead."

Kinda harsh. New Line did the right thing by pulling the section though. Given the lack of vets working in private industry these days, its not hard to see how something like this could slip by without a proper vetting. Adrants does make a point that in a time of war, sensitivities are indeed higher, and an extra level of scrutiny needs to be applied to all things military-related.

[Via Adrants]

Are DVD Consumers Getting Weary of "Double Dipping?"

Have you ever bought a DVD, only to have a new "deluxe edition" crammed with extras appear only months later? According to an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, this practice, known in the industry as "double dipping," has become a mainstay of the DVD biz.

Now granted, replacing some of the more spartan discs from the early days of DVD is one thing, but lately, the studios have been pushing the envelope, as the article points out:

But increasingly, for new movies, the period is just a few months -- and with no advance word that a re-release is planned when the first version comes out. It's not just today's three releases from Fox, whose representatives declined to comment when asked. For example, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment put out the "Underworld" DVD on Jan. 6, 2004, not announcing until after its release that a two-disc special edition was coming just a few months later, on May 25. Warner Home Video did the same with the Halle Barry thriller "Gothika," out on March 23, 2004, and again on Oct. 12.

Talk about disappointing your customers -- eventually, they're going to figure out the game. In the meantime, here's what some of the studios are doing to minimize the inevitable backlash:

But there are right ways for the DVD companies to do such quick-turnaround re-releases while keeping consumers in mind.

When New Line Home Entertainment announced the DVDs of "The Lord of the Rings" movies, it noted at the same time that special extended editions would be coming later in their respective release years. Before Sony released the first DVDs of "Hellboy" and "The Grudge," the makers of each film had already been widely quoted online and in articles that souped-up versions would be coming soon afterward.

Philosophically, we agree with giving the customer what they want when they want it. That's why approaches like New Line's (or 2929 Entertainment's recent day and date release of 'Enron', for that matter) will supplant practices that aren't customer-centric.



[Via the Star-Tribune]

Racy 'Harold and Kumar' DVD Poster Stirs Free Speech Debate

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, racy posters advertising the 'Harold and Kumar go to White Castle' DVD have riled up some of the faculty and student body at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

The poster, which advertises DVDs of the movie "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," depicts the torso of a woman, whose face isn't shown, with a DVD - one for the regular version of the movie and one for the unrated version - covering each naked breast. The poster reads, "Either way, you score."

Whatever the final outcome may be, one thing is certain: the ads, though tacky, have definitely been effective. While suggestive, the ads are not really any worse than a swimsuit issue, and they definitely capture the attention of their target market. In fact, compared to the relatively tame, off-target key art for the theatrical release, the DVD ads have been well thought out. This is just one more example of studios rethinking the DVD campaign on its own terms, especially when the theatrical campaign underperformed.

Racy ads stir free speech debate at SIUE

Lost in Translation & LOTR the big Winner

Lost in translation looks to gain the biggest awards boost, winning nearly all of the Golden Globes it was nominated for. Conversely, Cold Mountain looks like the biggest loser, winning only one of it's eight noms. It could have really used the boost at the box office.

And of course, LOTR: ROTK did some damage as well, raking in four Globes. If the Oscars pile up as well, we could easily see over one billion in worldwide box office.

But how much effect do Golden Globe wins have on Box Office? I can nary recall a time where they swayed me one way or the other. I think their influence to be more indirect -- swaying Oscar voters, with the Oscars being the true box office movers. The Globes are gaining in popularity and influence though, if you consider their soaring ratings.

The 2004 Golden Globe Winners