Bursting The Bubble

Director Steven Soderbergh has made some theater owners very unhappy over his latest film. At a time when theater attendance continues to slide, and the window between a movie's initial release and its home video debut is growing ever shorter, they need all the help they can get to bring folks in. Soderbergh is putting the industry on its ear with his latest project--Bubble will hit theaters and cable TV via Pay Per View at the same time, while its DVD premiere will happen within days of the theatrical release, on January 31st 2006.

An article published in USA TODAY, by Gary Gentile, spells it out:

"The country's largest theater chains are snubbing the film because they object to it being sold on DVD and shown on cable TV the same day it debuts in a handful of theaters owned by the same company that produced the movie. "

They see this potential trend as a real threat to their bottom line. Although Bubble isn't the first film to take this route---Now everyone is paying attention.

If I were a theater owner, I would watch with great interest what happens here, but I would hardly hit "the panic button" just yet. Bubble is a small film. If they start doing this with the "bigger" movies"--that's the time to panic.

Having said that...as a fan of Soderbergh's I can't wait to rent the DVD. Bubble hits everywhere this Friday