Drew Turney
In the very first edition of VOD Views, we talked about the minor blow-up that occurred when Steven Soderbergh’s ”Bubble” came out on the same day on DVD, VOD and in cinemas. Now the old window debate has reared its head again.
Even the announcement that the long awaited sequel to ”Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was in production was somewhat overshadowed by the release plan. The Weinstein Company-produced follow-up to Ang Lee’s 2000 smash hit is coming out simultaneously on IMAX screens and Netflix online.
It was a bold new step into the future, but there’s already more blood threatened behind the scenes than there will be in the movie. The announcement had hardly made its way into the industry trades when theatre owners lined up behind each other to damn Netflix to hell.
American theatre chains Regal, Cinemark and AMC have all said they won’t show the flick on their big screens if it comes out on VOD on the same day. ‘We will not participate in an experiment where you can see the same product on screens varying from three stories tall to 3 inch wide on a smart phone,’ is how a Regal spokesman put it.
So ”Crouching Tiger 2” is the new battleground in a war that’s been going on longer than many realise. The VOD and home movie services (like DVD) want movies as soon as possible after they’re released because they know they’ll make more on brand new content.
The theatre owners are afraid that if movies are available through other channels too early, their profits will be cannibalised if more people download or buy on DVD rather than go to the cinema. Half the industry wants to shrink the window and half wants to maintain it.
In the middle are the production companies and studios who have too many paymasters with conflicting interests to please all at once. Do they give Netflix (who’ll pay higher licensing fees to show new films) the short windows they want, or give theatres (who can cripple them by not showing their movies at all) the longer windows they want?
Even the famously blowhard Harvey Weinstein was diplomatic, saying ‘the moviegoing experience is evolving quickly and profoundly, and Netflix is unquestionably at the forefront of that movement.’
On VOD now and coming up, Terry Gilliam is still confounding critics and audiences with his dystopian, audacious visions that are impossible to pin down. His latest, ”The Zero Theorem” (https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/zero-theorem/id826954849?uo=4&at=10lorC), is out now, and we talked to young star Lucas Hedges about his role in it.
Former porn actress Sasha grey continues to forge her mainstream career with ”Open Windows” (https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/open-windows/id910278444?uo=4&at=10lorC) a kidnap thriller with a pretty unique approach. Every scene is what the characters can see through online chat or video programs on a computer or camera.
Also ”Last Hijack” (https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/last-hijack/id919857326?uo=4&at=10lorC), the story of a Somali pirate told from the pirate’s point of view using love action documentary footage and animation, courtesy of the animation talent behind Richard Linklater’s ”Waking Life” and ”A Scanner Darkly”.
