For a while we’ve all talked about how the Hollywood Studio model must change, we’ve talked and talked and wished it would happen but every time we talk about it…we know it’s not going to happen for a very long time. Well perhaps these utopian thoughts are not that far away, especially when some big names are now speaking out against it and demonstrating how it can change.
According to The BBC, Steven Soderbergh is going against that studio model right now.
Director Steven Soderbergh has called the movie business “out of whack” as he prepares to release his latest film in cinemas, on DVD and TV simultaneously.
“The studio model has to be rethought,” he told Hollywood Reporter. He has made low-budget murder mystery Bubble with US company 2929 Entertainment.
The film will be released in January in cinemas and on DVD. On the same day it will be made available on cable TV.
“I want them to sell Bubble DVDs in the theatre lobby,” said the 42-year-old.
Studios are concerned that launching DVDs on the same day as cinema releases will jeopardise box office takings.
But Soderbergh believes it is time for the industry to embrace change and new models of distribution.
“Everything changes and evolves,” he said. “We’ve got to get with it, embrace it and find a way to make it work…”The movies are not the way they used to be when I grew up.”
Very wise words indeed, and to be honest I’m blown away that this is actually being attempted. This will provide the studios with an actual business model of how the same day release would work, and what the benefits are. It will definitely be something they’ll analyse, but will it be implemented? We can only hope.
So, with the first thought for the day, can you see yourself going to the cinema when the DVD is available the same day, or it’s showing on Cable that night? If you did go, and the film was superb, would you buy the DVD on the way out?
