The usual window is between 4 and 6 months depending on the film, and as Alice in Wonderland is expected to be a big hit it will most likely be 6 months which would give the multiplexes more time to make money, so chains like Vue Entertainment Ltd are threatening to pull the film altogether.
Is this window too short? Cinema chains are argument it is and that it will reduce the number of bums on seats in movie theatres and the cinema goer will all to aware they can buy the film soon for home entertainment and hence reduce the box office money taken for a film, which in turn could have a knock on effect on cinema ticket prices.
10 years ago the window was 6 months or more, and there was a time when the window was even up to a year, although the market back then was more leaned towards the rental market and the internet was not so dominant, and hence no digital downloads, and piracy although an issue wasn't by any means as big as it is now.
Why then does the likes of Disney want such a short window? Is it to tackle piracy? Is it to cash in on the hype of a film in such a fickle here today gone tomorrow market; Or is it simply that home cinema can fulfil the movie goers as readily as an expensive visit to the cinema these days!
Just think if Avatar has a 13 week window it would be scheduled for release around 15th March during a time which it will surely be still riding high at the cinema, or maybe that would be the best time to release it.
The argument can be seen for and against this, but you have to admit that just maybe you did prefer it in the days when you were unable to watch a film for a period of months after leaving the cinema and then enjoy it even more when the VHS of the film was available from your local video rental store! Do you remember waiting for hours in a Blockbuster for the next copy of Back to the Future to be returned?
Robert has been a film buff since he first visited the old Palace Cinema in High Wycome when he was young.
After working for Ritz Video Film Hire, later Blockbuster Express, it cemented his interest in film and gave him the drive to go to university with the intention of working in the industy.
6 years of college/university studying film and Culture and he decided to take a different path, so he taught himself to develop websites.
8 years at Amazon, 3 years at eBay, a year at PayPal and 6 years running his own digital marketing agency and here we are writing and developing saltypopcorn.co.uk.
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