According to Variety Magazine, there is a bit of an uproar brewing between Disney and theatre owners over Alice in Wonderland, due in theatres March 5, 2010. Disney is pushing for the DVD release of the film to be bumped up from the standard 16 weeks to just 12 weeks. This move raised some concerns with theatre owners as they were unclear to whether or not it was Disney's intention to negotiate a new standard for all their releases.
As negotiations continued, Disney had an opportunity to clarify that they are in fact only lobbying for their studio to be granted at most, one or two advanced DVD releases a year. Other studios are likely to follow Disney's lead as this will likely set a new precedent for DVD release schedules.
This of course, raises many concerns as shortening theatrical runs for blockbusters like Alice in Wonderland could adversely impact Box Office grosses. On the other hand though, this might increase revenue for movie studios which in turn might mean they will have more money to invest in a wider selection of films in the long term. Or perhaps, movie-goers might feel the pressure and actually go out to see films closer to their actual release dates.
i guess it could be - i mean, it used to be ages before films were available on dvd or (in the old days) video... but it's as easy to get movies to download before the dvd is released (and in dvd quality) as it is pre-release albums nowadays, so I guess this is the latest attempt to try and stifle that practice. However, I suspect A Christmas Carol won't be out on dvd til November 2010 for example... it's all hype and timing.
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