Quote:
Originally Posted by keirarts  For older and more 'obscure' or niche titles I think its an ok business model. In that respect I have no problems with them as 90% of their releases are for hardcore cineasts. My main problem is bigger, in demand titles getting shunted onto the label alongside them. Fright Night, Christine ect would all have shifted way more titles than was printed and in both cases it almost feels like the studio are withholding the rights to other territories as well as the U.S.
I cannot think of any other reason why Arrow are having difficulties securing the rights to Body Double and Fright Night has appeared nowhere else globally aside from that this is the business model Sony wants for Blu-Ray going forward. That or Sony executives don't understand their own customer base. |
It would seem that Sony has lost interest in releasing any catalogue product on Blu-ray at all and has struck licencing deals left and right in the US (TT, Mill Creek, Criterion, Grindhouse Releasing, etc) - which is an incredibly odd move considering its consumer electronics division was responsible for introducing the format to market, especially when you also take into account the commitment other majors continue to make. It should be also pointed out that Nick Redman (co-founder of Twilight Time) has said that the 3000 figure is not something that they've stumbled upon haphazardly, it's a number that works for almost everything they've done (and is derived from the ltd ed soundtrack CDs he was responsible for releasing from back in the 1990s too), but as you say, occasionally a title will come along that takes them by surprise but those (namely Body Double Christine, Fright Night and Night of the Living Dead) and anomalies, most takes months to sell out.
It's certainly odd that Sony has not released Fright Night or Christine elsewhere given how quickly the TT discs sold out but sitting on something and being canny is a typical studio trait - studio execs don't have the confidence to follow through with something but don't want to give someone else the opportunity to make a success either - so keeping hold of something and doing nothing with it becomes the safest option. It's very frustrating, I know, as I really want Fright Night and was unable to buy it at the time as I was seriously skint. But hey ho - my point stands though - if people want to own some of these titles they should embrace the TT releases and as I also mentioned, Screen Archives is customs friendly too
