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Posted by Allan on 01/09/06 13:18
Variety: Peter Chernin annouces Fox will pursue 60 day after wide
theatrical release HD single view home video release.
Fox smudges old windows
Studio shakes up delivery skeds
By PAUL SWEETING
In another move that could signal a seismic shift in how motion
pictures become available to the public, Chernin said Fox is
developing a plan to release its movies in high-definition just 60
days after theatrical release.
Chernin said Fox has not yet determined the delivery platform for the
newly created high-def window between theatrical distribution and
homevideo release. High-definition can be delivered via cable,
satellite, the Internet and, soon, digital discs.
A News Corp. spokeswoman declined to provide further details of the
plans and Chernin left the dinner without taking questions.
However, Fox home entertainment officials said after Chernin's speech
that the high-def movie would be available for one-time viewing only
in the new window, indicating that the likely means of delivery would
not be on disc.
The news comes just three weeks before Mark Cuban debuts Steven
Soderbergh's "Bubble" in 20 of his Landmark theaters Jan. 27 nearly
simultaneous with the premiere of the movie on the high-def HDNet
Movies channel and on DVD Jan. 31.
Chernin's address capped a week of aggressive digital delivery
announcements by Fox companies, including plans to make "The Shield"
and "Rescue Me" available several days in advance of their weekly
debut on FX to customers who adopt parent News Corp.'s new DirecTV
DVRs. The studio's homevideo unit also announced plans to release the
first movies in the new high-def digital disc format called Blu-ray
Disc two weeks prior to the introduction of the first Blu-ray machine
sometime this spring or early summer.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn said the
move to introduce the new premium high-def window could happen within
a matter of months.
Chernin's appearance at the Leaders in Technology dinner marked the
first time an executive from a content-producing company has addressed
the annual bread-breaking between technology companies and public
policymakers hosted by the Consumer Electronics Assn., at CES.
(Paul Sweeting is a reporter for Variety sister publication DVD
Exclusive.)
* http://www.variety.com/story.asp?l=story&a=VR1117935684&c=18
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