News
Horror Spoof Hits DVD Week After Short Theatrical
By Robert Marich
Oct. 29, 2009 – DVD distributor Anchor Bay Entertainment tries to create some sizzle for horror film spoof Stan Hesling (the name plays off the Universal Pictures release of Van Helsing from 2002) with a limited theatrical run one week followed immediately by its DVD release.
A press release says the standard DVD and Blu-ray release occurred Oct 27. The marketing campaign for the R-rated film proclaims it is “from the executive producer of Scary Movie” and the Stan Helsing trailer is full of over-the-top humor in the horror genre.
Pundits and indie film executives say they are always searching for “new models” of distribution and often pounce on quick DVD and online release bundled with theatrical as the Next Big Thing. But the reality is that such strategies are merely opportunistic ploys for films that have little prospect for the theatrical market, so only a perfunctory release occurs--if any at all. This is not indicative of anything...everyone remember Paramount blowing off Jackass 2.5 online but proclaiming it a “major studio backed broadband premiere” two years ago?
Still, it’s noteworthy that Anchor Bay – which is part of media conglomerate Liberty Media that also owns the Starz movie channels – is finding some value in limited theatrical runs for what are essentially direct-to-DVD titles.
For full text, click link below:
www.marketwire.com/press-release/Anchor-Bay-Entertainment-1061901.html
www.marketingmovies.net/chapters/chapter-7-distribution-to-theaters/