Sony's aborted attempt to release 'This Is It' DVD before Christmas

Sony Pictures desperately wanted to release the DVD of the Michael Jackson concert movie "This Is It" for the holiday shopping season, but backed down after movie theater owners balked that it was too soon following the film's theatrical premiere.

"This Is It" opened in 99 countries yesterday and is scheduled for a limited two-week run, though the studio may extend that depending on ticket sales.

Sony had hoped to capitalize on audiences' heightened interest in what turned out to be Jackson's final performance by releasing the DVD in mid-December, about a month after the movie ends its short time in theaters. The disc is now expected to come out in late January or early February.

Selling DVDs before Christmas can be particularly lucrative for studios as they are timed to to capture the holiday gift giving season.

While that made sense for Sony, owners of the nation's cinemas were none too happy at the prospect. They have historically urged studios to wait at least 90 days, but preferably four months, from the day a movie opens in theaters to start selling the DVD, in order to maximize ticket sales. For years, studios have honored that "window," in part out of concern that theaters would retaliate by not booking some of their movies or driving harder deal terms.

Sony executives tried to persuade theater operators to make an exception for "This Is It," given its short life span on the big screen and the uniqueness of the picture.

"We felt we made a pretty good case as to why this movie was different," said Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, who oversees worldwide marketing and distribution.

However, the movie theater owners refused to budge.

"We had several conversations with Sony and so did our members," said John Fithian, president of the National Assn. of Theatre Owners, an industry trade group. "Anytime we see the window go under three months, we alert our members and raise concerns with the studios."

After hearing complaints from executives at several of his member companies, Fithian said, "I raised a general concern with Sony about the extraordinarily short window."

After talking with theater owners, Sony, whose DVD releases on average come out four months and four days after a movie's theatrical run, reluctantly decided to back off from its request in order to preserve good relations with them.

"We didn't want it to be an issue," said Blake. "At the end of the day, we wanted a big theatrical run and they certainly stepped up and supported that with 6,000 screens in 3,481 theaters."

However, the Sony executive acknowledged that he was sorry the studio didn't get what it it wanted. "It would have made a big financial difference to us," he noted.

All of Hollywood is feeling the pain of an industry-wide decline in DVD sales, which are down more than 13% this year.

Sony is not the only studio that has recently attempted to push up the traditional DVD window. Paramount Pictures is releasing its summer event film "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" in the home entertainment market on Nov. 3, 88 days after it first hit theaters, which raised the ire of many exhibitors.

In 2005, Walt Disney Co. chief executive Bob Iger suggested that the studio might someday respond to consumers' growing impatience to see entertainment when and how they want it by releasing films simultaneously in theaters and on DVD. After theater owners responded in outrage, along with Disney's then-studio chief Dick Cook, Iger went silent on the subject for years.

However, in a keynote address earlier this month, Iger revisited the topic. "In order to keep the DVD business vital, that product has to be perceived as being fresh in the marketplace," the Disney chief said  at a conference at the University of Southern California. "The press to move the DVD window up, be it physical or digital, will grow because of that phenomenon."

--Claudia Eller and Ben Fritz

Photo: Michael Jackson in "This Is It." Credit: Sony Pictures.

Comments

[Ron B.]

I understand the "Two-Week" engagement, but I think it is a mistake. They should let this run it's course like any other popular movie. They will eliminate a number of people that don't like crowded theaters, which includes me. I will wait for the DVD............

[Andres Bustamante]

I can't wait till we get rid of movie theaters. I hate going to the movies, sitting there listening to all the pigs gorge down on all the smelly food, spending the first hour of the movie unwrapping whatever disgusting grub they just bought.

I hate the ever present smell of vomit in movie theaters. Hasn't the theater industry every heard of air fresheners.

I am much more comfortable at home streaming movies over Netflix. The whole theater experience, as miserable as it is, has played itself out. Yet theater owners want to strong arm the industry.

[Lisa in Los Angeles]

This film was SO GOOD. And I wasn't an especially big Michael Jackson fan going in - I liked his music, and went more out of curiosity than anything. But wow. Seriously, Sony. Don't be stupid. This film could easily play for many weeks. I just got five new people to see it today. If they tell five, and so on and so on.... I wouldn't buy the DVD. This isn't the kind of thing I'd watch over and over. But it was dramatic and compelling on the big screen. I hope everyone sees it, no matter what their feelings re MJ. He's really that good, and this film will win new converts.

[maria cervantes]

why does it matter if sony wants to release the dvd of micheal jackson?

i mean yah it was a GREAT movie and yah i think everyone would like to have a movie of their own to watch when ever, but seriously do people have to make a big deal out of it?

i think it would be a great idea if sony did release the movie.
who wouldn't?

i'm pretty sure they would make tons of money.

[XanaduM]

Attention Sony!!!
If you absolutely can't bring it out for Christmas (yes, it's on my on my gift list), bring it out in January...a lot of us will have gift cards and cash to spend and the DVD would be a great way to spend those gifts!
Fie and shame on the greedy theater owners for thwarting the release of the DVD in time for Christmas!

[marion]

i was a "movie in theater" fan, went almost every week, sometimes i saw 5 or more movies in a week, but now with HD, it had 2 or 3 years since my last movie in theater, also the theater tickets almost cost the same as a DVD.
I say goodbye to...
- loud babies and childrens
- technical issues
- get 15 minutes early to get good seats
- see tons of commercials before the movie start
- uncomfortable seats
- overpay, count the family, the car and snacks, its more than 3 times the price of the DVD
- see the movie when and where the theater say it
- see only one time the movie
i will leave the list short...

BUT I NEVER WOULD CAME BACK TO A THEATER

[Fausta Barra]

Actually this might be very good for the eventual DVD. It will give them more time to thoughtfully create a DVD that has the movie, and more footage from the rehearsal tapes organized in an intelligent way. It would be interesting to know, for instance, how many hours really (80?90?100? 120? I've read
all those numbers in different places) were available of the different source materials. How many hours contained footage with Michael? with Michael dancing? with Michael speaking, etc. It was a good idea to stitch together
whole songs from different rehearsals, but it would also be nice to see a whole rehearsal of at least 1 or 2 numbers. Surely, if they paid any attention, they would know that people are interested in seeing more of the working Michael.
Or to see a series of rehearsals of one number from 1st time out to 2nd or 3rd to see how it developed. I would like the real soundtrack of the movie, not the masters of the old albums, because I thought it was really interesting to hear Michael adapting the vocals to the condition of his 50 year old voice. He was just as expressive, but he could not sing them the same way that he did at 20.

[whateverdude]

let the fat cats fight

it'll be on the internet and downloadable for free soon enough,

and nobody will care except the fat cats, because that's another lost $

i love their infighting, its nice to see them destroy themselves for a change

[Steph]

I'm disappointed because I wanted to buy the DVD for Christmas, but I guess I will have to wait. Maybe this will prompt Sony and the theaters to run the movie longer.

[Daphne]

Matters not to me!! I was hoping the dvd would release in time for Christmas gifts. But I will just give IOUs, because I know the MJ fans that I want to give this dvd to will LOVE IT..and I want my own copy too. I danced and sang my heart out at the movies yesterday. I loved THIS IS IT!!