Tag Archives: cinemanow

Wreck-It Ralph Will Be Disney’s First Movie Released Earlier Digitally

Disney is jumping on the early digital delivery bandwagon and releasing Wreck-It Ralph February 12, 2013, nearly a month before it’s retail disc date, March 5, 2013.

I’m not sure which services the download will be available from: iTunes? Amazon? VUDU? CinemaNow? Also unknown is what the price will be.

If Disney follows Fox, we’ll be able to buy from all those sources at $15. I watched Wreck-It Ralph in theaters in 2D and found it very entertaining. While watching CG on Blu-ray is undoubtedly the best way to experience this movie, I would definitely recommend owning this movie digitally if the price is right. You can also check out Eugene’s review.

Source: Engadget

Fox To Lower Price of Digital Copies and Release Them Earlier

 

How do you get people to purchase something that isn’t selling well? Lower the price, of course! That’s the strategy Fox is banking on to boost digital copy sales on services like Amazon, CinemaNow, iTunes, and VUDU.

Not enough? What if Fox sweetened the deal by giving the digital copy an advanced release date over the DVD/Blu-ray?

Starting September 18th, Fox will be serve movies to under the name Digital HD (DHD) and the first title is Prometheus, which will be made available about 3 weeks before the Blu-ray (October 11, 2012). Other titles such as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Watch, Ice Age: Continental Drift will also be available for around $15 before their disc releases.

I am definitely a fan of the VUDU UltraViolet service and think this is a big step in the right direction. Blu-ray prices continue to drop but the sacrafice of sharability, extras, and nice packaging seems like a strong case for digital copies to be significantly cheaper. At $15 dollars, we can arguably call this a bargain. The Blu-ray for Prometheus is currently listed for $27.96 on Amazon. Sure, we get extras that we may or may not watch but at $15 dollars, we’re paying about the same price as one movie ticket.

Chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, James Gianopulos, said Fox would offer the new low price for forthcoming movies but what about catalog titles? Shouldn’t those also be repriced?

With plenty of titles in my Netflix/HBO Go queue, the window of theatrical and home video release has never been a big factor in my interest of purchasing digital copies. It’s always been price. Let’s hope the other studios follow or go a step further in releasing titles earlier or at a lower price.

Source: New York Times via Engadget