Archive for the 'iTunes' Category

Filed under: Disney, Tech Stuff, Distribution, Home Entertainment

New technology can be tricky because it has the ability to complicate legislative and contractual matters. The internet has shown this to be true in a number of ways over the past decade, from censorship issues to copyright concerns. Now with the growing industry of movie downloads and other forms of distribution on the web, some old deals are being interpreted in new ways. Starz Entertainment, which has been paying for exclusive rights to Disney films since 1993, is now suing the studio because of one such interpretation. The 14-year-old contract was renewed as early as 2005 and primarily relates to cable television rights, but Starz is claiming its deal extends to internet distribution too. Since Disney is selling titles via services like iTunes and Walmart.com, it is violating this agreement.

But you are probably wondering how television licensing and web licensing can be viewed as similar, especially in a deal made long before downloads and streaming video existed. Obviously Starz is just angry that its own download service, Vongo, isn’t as lucrative as iTunes, right? Well, the company has already been through a similar battle with Disney, having sued the studio a few years ago over MovieBeam, a video-on-demand service that Disney itself set up. Starz won that lawsuit despite the fact that the service wasn’t through any cable provider (MovieBeam was forced to split from Disney a year ago, though it has just been purchased by Movie Gallery) — although it is more similar to cable than internet because it was for play on your television. Starz is now concerned particularly with Disney’s deal with iTunes because of the new Apple box, which allows iTunes downloads also to be played on a TV set.

Of course, DVDs and other home videos are also playable through the television, so there needs to be a distinction made somewhere. I have a feeling that the courts will make a new distinction regarding internet product and this time around Starz will not be the victor.

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

News bites for the day before Friday:

• IESB has shared a juicy little rumor concerning the next Incredible Hulk installation. According to one of their readers who has an in at CW — Peter Gallagher, whose OC series is just about to wrap, has been up for a part in the next installment. According to the source, his shooting schedule had to be juggled to include some sort of test for the movie. Could he be one of the villains (The Abomination or Thunderbolt Ross)? Or, is there a chance he’ll take over the infamous man-that-turns-green himself? While he’s a much different pick for the part of Bruce Banner, I’m a bit intrigued by the thought.
• Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook’s latest film, I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK, is going places. After its first non-Korean screening at the Berlin Film Fest, it won the Alfred Bauer prize for innovative film-making and our Erik Davis gave it high marks in his review. Now, the movie has been chosen to close the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin on March 17. If you’re curious for more, I shared the color-intense, quirky trailer in November.
• With each passing day, iTunes seems to do more to make itself irresistible — not only to music fiends, but avid moviegoers as well. Since January, we’ve brought you news of their deal with Paramount, then Sundance Shorts and finally, Lionsgate. To further their involvement in film, iTunes has partnered with IFC Entertainment to offer a selection of indie films in their store. The selection will include their 2007 Independent Spirit Award nominees and previous noms such as Me and You and Everyone We Know — for the low-low-low price of $9.99! Or not. (Is it just me, or is that a bit high for an iPod-quality video, when you could pay similar for a previously viewed DVD?) Thanks to tuaw for the news.
  

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Artisan, Lionsgate Films, Home Entertainment

I wasn’t even aware that the rights to Terminator 2: Judgment Day were owned by Lionsgate Films, but as of today the film is available on iTunes. Yes, that is right, Lionsgate titles are now offered through Apple’s download store, almost six months after the studio had originally thought they would be. Back in September, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer announced to investors the deal to release movies through iTunes — one of the first leaks that iTunes would definitely sell movies, in fact. But then a few weeks later Apple’s movie store opened with no Lionsgate titles included, and no word on when they would be available.

I have a feeling that Lionsgate was finally clear to deal with Apple once Wal-Mart announced its own movie download service. Now iTunes has about 400 movies, which is still a lot less than Wal-Mart’s 1,000. Some of the additions today include Total Recall, The Blair Witch Project, Dirty Dancing and Monster’s Ball (which I bet is great for watching on public transportation). Hopefully, we’ll hear from other studios soon. Next, likely, will be an announcement from 20th Century Fox since it was once thought it would be the first non-Disney studio to sign on.

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Filed under: Site Announcements, Home Entertainment

It took long enough, but Wal-Mart now has its own movie download service online. The retail company has been whining about this alternative to DVD consumption for over a year, and it may even have halted the progress of iTunes and other services. But there was no way that it couldn’t follow the format into the future; in November it officially entered the download game with a single title, Superman Returns.

Of course — as if we didn’t see this coming — Wal-Mart is offering some movies and TV shows at a cheaper rate than the competition. It also has titles from all of the major studios, though it is missing most of the major television networks. So far it only has 3,000 titles, with newer movies sold for a higher price than older movies, just as other services do. The site launched today is also only in a Beta stage, so it could have some glitches (it won’t work at all in Firefox) — though hopefully none as bad as the recommendations scandal.

Wal-Mart could be hurting itself a bit by giving in and selling movie downloads, as this will only contribute to the problem of decreased DVD sales, which the company depends on so dearly. But the decision to finally launch a download service may be in relation to news that Hollywood is permitting download-to-burn technology, which will likely be used in download kiosks that will be located in Wal-Mart stores. With these kiosks, Wal-Mart could still attract customers the same way it currently does with low-price DVDs. Still, Wal-Mart isn’t yet allowing its downloads to be burned to a disc. It hopes to allow this later in the year — probably after it figures out a definite kiosk game plan.

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Filed under: Tech Stuff, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing

Like it or not, the option to download films and TV shows from the internet is here to stay. In fact, if things continue as they are it might not be too long before more “traditional” outlets for films and TV shows — such as brick and mortar stores or even movie theaters — are a thing of the past. It’s already happened with the music business. Look around and tell me if you can find a Sam Goody or Tower Records in your neighborhood. You can’t, and one of the biggest reasons why is due to people downloading music from online stores like iTunes.

However, all is not doom and gloom — especially for producers of film and television shows like the major studios. If you happen to be a major studio, things look pretty good for you — unless for some reason you haven’t gotten into the online distribution business yet. If you have, this recent Variety article should make you pretty happy. If you haven’t, well, it might be time to start — that is, if you like to make money. According to the article, the next few years will find the online content delivery business exploding with record profits. Revenue in the U.S. alone from legitimate downloads of films and television programs will go from $538 million last year to $6.3 billion by 2012 — a tenfold increase.

Some of the factors contributing to this dramatic increase are broadband penetration and changing consumer habits. Or, as Adam Thomas, a researcher at Informa, the group which released the revenue projections, puts it: “These trends are now so pronounced that the term ’social revolution’ no longer seems too much of an exaggeration. With social change occurring on such a large scale, traditional media companies are being forced to change their behavior and business models to adapt their offering to consumer demand.” You hear that traditional media companies? Time to change or get left behind.

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