Monday, January 30, 2006

Mark Cuban's new movie distribution model: it's only changing the industry

Mark Cuban’s studio, Magnolia Pictures, recently released Bubble simultaneously in theatres, on DVD, and in 2 showings on HDNet Movies — Cuban even gave fair warning that he was going to do this in a blog post on January, 19.  Apparently some theatres are refusing to screen the movie because it is messing up what they perceive as their core business model.  Cuban recently posted about Bubble on the 25th and noted the following about theatre owners from big chains and theatre trade organizations prior to Bubble’s release:

NOT ONE stood up and said, “screw him, our product is great. We don't care what he does”. Not a single person said  “It could hurt our business, but we will just have to work harder to bring people in to our theaters”. Not a single person said, “It will make us have to work harder and create a better value and experience for our customer”

They stood up and indirectly said….OUR PRODUCT SUCKS WE CANT SURVIVE WITHOUT HELP.

Geek News Central did the math on Cuban’s new distribution model and essentially concluded that a $19.95 charge for a DVD not only makes the money go further, but leaves enough left over for a big screen tv so that you can watch the DVD in near-theatre goodness if you choose.  Check out the full math on the post and compare your yearly movie viewing to their numbers to see where you come out.

In related news, Lockergnome reports that movies 24 movies from Sundance will be released simultaneously in theatres and on IFC (the International Film Channel).

Link — Geek News Central

Link — Lockergnome

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