M+E Daily
Disney’s ‘Alice’ DVD, Blu-ray Set For June 1
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Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment announced today a June 1 release date for Blu-ray and DVD versions of “Alice In Wonderland,” which has earned some $320 million in theaters to date since its March 5 premiere.
The 88-day window between the film’s theatrical and home entertainment releases shaves more than seven weeks off studios’ average for films released in the first quarter of 2009, according to data from the . Moreover, the time between “Alice”’s premiere and Disney’s Blu-ray/DVD announcement is one month and 12 days, nearly half the industry average of two months and 15 days for first-quarter films in 2009.
Despite the controversy it stirred with exhibitors, “Alice” is not the first major-studio blockbuster to carry such a schedule.
Last summer, Paramount set an 88-day home entertainment window for its “GI Joe,” which took in $150.2 million during a theatrical run that began Aug. 7. More recently, Warner Bros. brought “Sherlock Holmes” to Blu-ray and DVD 95 days after its Dec. 25, 2009 theatrical premiere.
Windows of 95 days or less were few among films that earned $150 million or more in theaters last year, according to theater owners’ data. But the home entertainment market’s recent performance is erratic, at best. Most surprisingly, rental revenues for the first quarter of 2010 from the same period last year, after having surged 4% for all of 2009, according to the Digital Entertainment Group.
The latest home entertainment market figures may augur a greater number of exceptions to the unwritten release-window rules between theaters and studios.
