‘Minority Report’ rides 4th quarter DVD sales boom
LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) — With every indication that this will be the most explosive fourth quarter in the history of DVD sales, Steven Spielberg (news)’s effects-laden “Minority Report” DVD is targeted for release Dec. 17 from DreamWorks Home Entertainment.
The DVD and rental-priced VHS release of “Report,” staring Tom Cruise (news), is timed to take advantage of a DVD holiday buying frenzy that began with last month’s release of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s “Spider-Man,” which broke all Day 1 sales records with more than 7 million units sold through to consumers.
Since “Spider-Man” swung into action on the DVD scene, week after week of blockbuster titles have confirmed what industry analysts had been predicting for more than a year — fourth-quarter DVD sales will gross more than $7 billion.
According to the DVD Entertainment Group, the cumulative boxoffice gross of home video releases for the fourth quarter is more than $4.3 billion, up 34% from a year earlier. This is the largest boxoffice gross of DVD releases for any quarter since the format was introduced in 1997.
“Report,” which generated more than $130 million at the domestic boxoffice, is set to be one of the top new sci-fi releases of the quarter, touting both a widescreen and fullscreen DVD, replete with bonus features.
Producer Laurent Bouzereau’s futuristic DVD menus display the inner working of the film on a separate disc, offering a rare look at Spielberg commenting on every aspect of the filmmaking process — from the stunts to designing the near-future world to the story line that stirred debate about the future of the “probable cause” rule within the U.S. Constitution.
In the bonus chapter “Deconstructing Minority Report,” Spielberg discusses how he brought together a think tank of intellectuals who conceived the near-future world of “Report.”
“Report” will carry a suggested retail price of $19.95 for the two-disc DVD and will be available for rental on VHS and DVD starting Dec. 17.
