Disney may battle theater owners alone for quick DVD releases

December 6, 2005

Ginsu Victim used our news submit to tell us "I've submitted news
about this before, so I found this update. Me, I'm all for it. There's only a handful of movies I'd like to go see in a theater. The majority of films play better in my home. The experience of going out to the movies isn't what it once was. I welcome faster releases."

Disney CEO Robert Iger appears to be bracing himself for a war with theater owners over his determination to eliminate the delay between the time a film is released in theaters and the time it is released on DVD.

In an interview with today"s (Monday) Walt
Street Journal, Iger said that he had hoped that other studio chiefs would
side with him, but he said, "No movie studio really wants to be first
because it"s like going over the hill first in battle. They don"t want to take the most bullets."

He said that theater chains have
threatened to reduce the number of screens his movies are shown in if he
attempts to narrow the gap between their theatrical and DVD release.
"We"ll have a conversation with theater owners to see whether we can move
them more peacefully," he told the Journal. "But I think in the end, it"s
going to have to be more by force than through negotiation or
diplomacy."

We enjoy going online and pre-order or
order DVDs there. Not only is it easier to do so on the computer, each film
is rated by other customers. Most do a pretty good job of critiquing the movie
and it is very helpful. In addition, the site we use gives free shipping on
purchases over 25 dollars. So you just buy 2 or 3 DVDs and a
few weeks later (due to release dates) there they are, no tax, no shipping,
right to my door. You can't beat that with a stick! Usually, they're the
same price as the ones on sale in retail stores in my area too, or pretty close.
To me it's worth it not to run out burning my gas and hope that the store has
the product. Only to have to trundle back home in order to watch it. Seems
silly.

If DVDs were released sooner, or better yet, there was zero
delay after the theater debut, that would even be more fun. The
only nice thing about the delay for me, is you can wait and see the reviews
from average Joe's like myself, before you make your move. Professional critics
don't cut it in my house these days, we prefer customer reviews best! But,
all anyone would have to do is wait a week and the reviews would be
there.

Having said that, what's everyones theory of why Disney wants to have
immediate theater releases? Do you think it's an attempt to stop piracy? Or are
there other motivations behind this push? It has to be money, we know that, but
what's the angle, do you think you know?

Source: IMDB