With much of the industry’s attention focused on the imminent launch of DirecTV’s premium VOD service, Magnolia Pictures has flown under the radar with six VOD titles available 30 days BEFORE their theatrical release.
Magnolia’s video-on-demand titles currently include 13 Assassins, Hobo with a Shotgun, Troll Hunter, Black Death, Ceremony and Rubber. An over-the-top teaser on Magnolia’s website is coyly evasive about the nature of Magnolia’s agreement with Hollywood that allows the former to rent films before their theatrical release. From the site:
“How can we do it? Don’t ask. Just enjoy.”
While its current lineup is certainly not blockbuster material, it’s nonetheless interesting that Magnolia is able to bow movies so far in advance of their theatrical release. Will we be seeing more of this new window in the future, Insiders?
(via Home Media Magazine)
Aren’t these movies called “direct to video” or “direct to DVD” and from a long time ago … “direct to videotape”?
@ Richard
More like direct to the:
“$1. wire bin”
or
“buy these titles by the pound cardboard box”
Oh, by the way, these titles *didn’t fall of a truck!* ;)
Exactly, these will never make it to theaters, so they could advertise them as “A year before theatrical release” even. They probably can’t even get a company to put them on DVD, so they are just doing VOD.
If these films “will never make it to theaters”, it’s because Americans aren’t happy unless they’re getting more of the same crap they love complaining about. 13 Assassins (by Takashi Miike), Black Death & Rubber have been getting rave reviews on the film festival circuit. The mock trailer for Hobo with a Shotgun was Robert Rodriguez pick in the SXSW Grindhouse trailer competition.
Good for Magnolia for attempting to get more positive word-of-mouth prior to theatrical release rather than just dumping these films to DVD.
My god what a bad selection and Vudu charges $6 for that!
Vudu charges $6 for what? Pre-theatrical releases? Which ones?
Look at the reviews for these films compared to the crap filling the multiplexes. These aren’t “bad selections” by any measure. If these films are unsuccessful at the American box office, it has less to with the quality of the films and more to do with the embarrassing taste of mainstream American audiences.
This isn’t that different than Trump running for president.
Mark Cuban gets free press every time he ‘shakes’ up the movie business with his new distribution moves. If he had a real winner in his hand you could bet that he’d play it like everyone else. I still give him a few points for trying something different.
Now just release blockbuster films 30 days before theatrical (heck, release them on the same days as the theatrical release) and I’ll be happy to pay $30 for them. That would be much cheaper than my family going to the movies – and I can watch in on a movie screen without the punks kicking my seat.
I was thinking about renting Hobo With a Shotgun, but for $10? Forget it.
Just a mention….Think I’m sticking with $1 Redbox rentals all the way! Yesterday went with friend to the matinee theater to see Source Code (movie was just okay–probably should have gone to see Scream 4). Anyway, the matinee reduced price was $6.50 each PLUS we each got a small coke, and 1 medium popcorn to share. The price of the 2 small drinks and 1 medium popcorn alone was over $13!!! Don’t know how a family of 4 or 6 is suppose to afford/ENJOY going to the theater to see a movie on the big screen when probably can’t get out for much less than $100!
At Tribeca, movie producer Joe Roth suggests that movie studios should start buying theaters since “95 percent of the gross of an American movie is achieved in the first 30 days”. Note: Studios have not been allowed to own theaters since they were forced to divest themselves of their theater chains in the late ’40s.
More here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tribeca-joe-roth-suggests-movie-182710
It seems like there are very few single screen theaters left; does any one studio put out enough movies to keep a multi-screen theater full (both of films and of viewers)?