The revolution starts Friday.
So say director Steven Soderbergh and producer Todd Wagner, who have teamed to change the way new films are distributed with the near-simultaneous release of the psychological murder mystery “Bubble” in theaters and on premium cable TV Friday [HDNet] and at your local DVD store on Jan. 31.
For the film industry, Soderbergh’s “Bubble” is more than exciting – it’s the equivalent of an earthquake striking a business that hasn’t changed since TV arrived in the late 1940s.
Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning “Traffic” director whose hits include “Erin Brockovich” and the “Ocean’s 11” franchise, has given a touch of class and legitimacy to Wagner’s brainchild. Soderbergh plans to make no fewer than six movies on this model, all filmed on digital video, all with nonprofessional actors, such as the $1.6 million “Bubble.”
Give credit to Mark Cuban, as well. From financing the Grokster defense to his comments on greedy thugs, whether the RIAA or Enron, he doesn’t mind putting his money where his mind is.
Hey this is great. Finally the viewers get their own choice of how to see a film pretty much up front. Half the time I know I’d like to see a movie but don’t have the time to go to the theatre to see it and then by the time it hits DVD I’ve already forgotten about it.
Here’s to hoping this model catches on!
-T
I agree with both above. You will also see that more people will acutally go out and buy the DVD at the time of release rather than download a HOT Copy from the web and then never buy the movie cuase they have already seen it.
Funny how it seems no one wants to go out on the limb until one person succeeds and then they all jump on the same branch.
I would even let my DISH/DVR charge me a few cents everytime I watched the movie, just let me keep a copy to watch at my leasure.