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Saturday
24Oct2009

'This Is It' Won't Hit DVD Until February

DateSaturday, October 24, 2009 at 11:00PM
Ever since it was announced that the Michael Jackson concert documentary This is It would be rushed into theaters in October (it's coming out Wednesday), I've been saying that it would hit DVD in time for the holiday shopping season, and why not, really? DVDs sell more briskly in November and December than any other time, and even though you have almost zero time between the theatrical run and a DVD release, Sony would really only have to market the movie once.

As it turns out, I was dead wrong. Sony isn't releasing the film on DVD in November or December. Or January. Instead, the film that's only running two weeks in theaters (for now), will have a more traditional 90-day gap between closing date (November 13th) and the DVD (Feburary 13th). The Hollywood Reporter seemed to think this all pointed to a quick turnaround on DVD, writing, "That means no Michael Jackson Christmas."

Perhaps the timing was so easy to predict that Sony worried people would skip the movie altogether, but believe me, that won't happen. It's going to be one of the best two-week periods ever, and I think we both know that. The pre-sale figures are astonishing, better than anything ever in the history of evers. Some reports have a $250 million opening week. That might be a little high, especially since it's only in 3,400 theaters, but it should nevertheless be one of the all-timers.

So with the DVD waiting a few months, that ensures that at least some of the audience won't just wait for the home video option. I guess from Sony's perspective, moving the DVD to February gives the studio an extra boost in the almost always weak first quarter. And it's not like people won't buy the video whenever it comes out, for the same reason the movie tickets will sell by the millions on Halloween weekend.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

Glad to see the move to postpone the DVD/BR. Sure it would have been nice for Xmas, but it's too close to the film's theatrical release, and would have hurt the film's numbers. Not that it still won't, before the DVD/BR was announced I had people telling me "I'll just wait for the DVD." I guess some people don't get it, there are certain things you WANT to see on the big screen, not because it's first, but because the audience and the experience... this is one of those films.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterChad

i AM highly DISAPPOINTED,after all this is ALL i wanted for christmas and even thought of pre-ordering JUST MYSELF,to know i would get it,i am an adult (by the way)i thought surely with everyone saying dvd would be avaiable to for christmas it would be here by then,i think this is just one more example of the big movie and music company's screwing the little guy.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commentershelia

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