Those wacky Brothers Warner are always looking to make a buck, but this time I think they offer a wonderful opportunity to fans while breaking out a new on demand service that will offer “longtail” releases that were never scheduled for DVD to now be available.
Warner Bros has produced over 6,800 theatrical films, but only 1,200 or so titles are available on DVD today. But tonight the studio has announced that they are opening their movie vault, through a new website — WarnerArchive.com. Until now, the limited sales potential of some films and tv shows has prevented Warner Bros from making the titles available to the public. The new site is an on-demand manufacturing operation which allows customers to purchase long tail titles. Movies will cost $19.95, and will be shipped in a shrink-wrapped case with cover art within five days of purchase.
I think this is pure brilliance by WB and I do hope that other studios follow suit.
With this “on demand” service they leave themselves with far less risk on titles they haven’t released thinking it wouldn’t be worth while. Now those small groups of fans who wish their guilty pleasure or a moment from their past would show up on the Dvd shelves so they can relive some nostalgia or add it to their collection will have the opportunity to own a movie or TV Series that previously WB wouldn’t have thought twice to releasing.
Some simple math calculates out that with 5000 titles or so potentially being offered, (there is only 150 on the site right now) and with their schedule to release 20 new movies or TV eps a month it will take 22 years for the entire library to be available. Of course many of the titles on the list are much older and titles you may have never heard of, so I doubt it will take that long to fill their online service catalogue.
Would you be willing to shell out $20 to own a copy of a film or TV show previously not released to DVD?
Hmm, unless I’m reading that wrong, there’s no UK shipping either, which is frustrating. In an ever shrinking world the continued regionalism of media frustrates me.
Some problems.
– It seems quite a number of the current 150 were made not by Warners but by MGM, and are merely acquisitions.
Nothing wrong about that on the surface, but given /film’s wording, it is misleading. Warners only owns the video rights to some of MGM’s films. Nothing more.
– Yes, Georgio ? The flick with the late Pavorotti? Okay, I suppose that would go to serious die-hard Pavorotti fans. I wouldn’t call it a ‘vintage classic’ (hell, it was released in 1982 and was a huge bomb at the time!) …as to anything that gets my attention, only three thus far- Doc Savage : Man Of Bronze, 1963’s Captain Sinbad and 1952’s Carbine Williams w/ Jimmy Stewart.
– BUT the real question is…is $20 worth it? My answer, after sampling info on some of the above is no, unless it were part of shipping, and it does not appear to be so. I suppose it’s not an issue if one was a serious Sinbad fan (or, for that matter, Pavorotti) …but here’s the thing. Bare bones.. I know it’s hard pressed to find old footage of trailers, lost interviews and so on (unless folks want such material to be in, such as the case with the Pavorotti flick). But not even a film historian’s thoughts or intro? Especially for some of those Joan Crawford/Clark Gable films.
And what about Blu-Ray?
Its a wonderful idea and long overdue. I hope the other studios will follow the lead
I would ahbid-def ahbid-def, most certainly I would!
Will be interesting to see how the picture quality is on those.
But this is a fantastic idea none the less.
This is why WB is my fav studio.
I would say, yes … worth the $20 to be able to have a movie in your collection that is currently unavailable to buy anywhere. For anyone obsessed with movies (especially some of the obscure ones), this sounds like a great idea.
i guess it depends on the title… good idea though