Avatar Gets Allocated in Canada

To help Canadian merchants understand the allocation policy for Avatar when it hits stores Thursday April 22 (Earth Day), Fox Home Video sent a handy FAQ which makes it clear Avatar will debut as a plain movie-only edition in 2D – nothing unexpected, since that info was already available in February.

What is surprising, however, is the film’s limited availability to merchants and buyers alike.

As stated in Fox’s FAQ:

“Allocation will be heavily controlled by Fox and James Cameron. The most likely reason is to ensure the market is not flooded and the title sell [sic] through clean with very little returns… Avatar has been offered as a one-time order only… This version will be available for 10 weeks before being discontinued. A 3D Special Extended Edition is planned for 4th quarter of 2010.”

“Flooded” seems a rather rich term, but the thinking is perhaps it’ll sate the rental market, satisfy those who must own the film, and keep the film in a kind of limited circulation until the fall when it debuts in 3D Blu-ray as more 3D sets and 3D Blu-ray players make their way to consumers.

I’m not sure if it’s bold, proactive, or a means to keep the film active in theatres while a legit home video version exists to buy, and then to rent. The question is whether people will care to buy the film yet again in the fall, or will there be a calming down period where those delighted by the theatrical 3D experience won’t even bother owning the film because

a) the 3D process has earned more praise than the story, and after several months, people might feel the story’s weaknesses will be more apparent on a flat/2D home screen

b) with 3D TV + player retail combos debuting for under $4000 (or sets by Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony roughly priced between $2200-$4000 Canadian), exactly how successful will the nascent format be, since 1080i sets and lower are selling for a pittance, now that average consumers are getting used to 1080p sets and Blu-ray players. (Meaning: do people really want to buy the core home theatre hardware again?)

I love 3D, so I’m watching the HD version’s launch and peoples’ reactions with interest, but even if 2/3’s of the rumored thirty-seven 3D films slated for 2010-2011 release are available on DVD and/or Blu-ray, will those titles – which will sell for a premium – really motivate people to re-buy serious hardware?

And if they don’t within the next 8 months, will Avatar still be a blockbuster home video release, or will people pass on re-buying the film?

If there is going to be a ‘flood,’ it might be the used DVD shops that’ll be stacked with bare bones copies a year from now...

- MRH

2009 BAFTA Winners

This past Sunday the BAFTA Awards were handed out, with The Hurt Locker winning Best Film and Best Director awards (Kathryn Bigelow), plus Original Screenplay (Mark Boal), Cinematography (Barry Ackroyd), Editing (Bob Murawski, Chris Innis), and Sound (Ray Beckett, Paul N.J. Ottosson), whereas the monster hit Avatar grabbed awards for Production Design (Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair) and Special Visual Effects (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones).

Of the British productions, Fish Tank won the Outstanding British Film Award, and Duncan Jones won the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Moon.

The French film A Prophet won in the oddly titled Film Not in the English Language category, and Pixar’s Up (perhaps unsurprisingly) won the Animated Film and Music (Michael Giacchino) awards.

For the complete list of nominees and winners, as well as clips of the winners’ glee, click on the official BAFTA link.

The Hurt Locker’s wins may convince fence-sitters to check out the film on DVD, whereas those wanting Avatar I at home will have to wait until it debuts “flat” in non-3D DVD/BR versions April 22.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, James Cameron alluded to a 3D home video release in November of 2010, but that may be wishful thinking for the time being, since Avatar may well go through the Multiple Version Syndrome, starting with a bare bones release, then a 3D version, then in a Super Happy Magic Deluxe Edition, and then maybe something else in 2011, requiring a new 3D TV, custom chair for long-term 3D exposure, non-dimensional paint for optimum DVD/BR display in a home environment, a special 3800 Volt converter for the new gear that should protect against non-failure of your street’s electrical needs, protective laminate for nearby aquariums to inhibit Spasmodic Fish Syndrome, monophonic ear plugs for cats and dogs sensitive to 48.5 channel Surround Sound reproduction (plugs for budgies are still in the works), and the new Eye-No-Pe Beer made from genetically enhanced hops which delay the need to micturate for 2.5 hours.

Next week may be the last chance for Torontonians to catch Avatar in IMAX 3D, so I have to set aside 2.5 hours of my life to catch the blue people re-enacting Cameron’s version of Dances with Wolves. Tied to that will be some film reviews of primordial 3D movies, including Bwana Devil, Hollywood’s first commercial 3D feature film, a sort-of technical ‘Avatar’ from 1952.

I specify ‘Hollywood,’ though, because in 1946 Aleksandr Andriyevsky directed Robinzon Kruzo, a Soviet production of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe that was shot in colour and 3D. Instead of a flat screen with anaglyph spectacles, the film was reportedly projected onto a louvered screen called Stereokino.

I first read of the film in an ancient edition of the Penguin Film Guide, and the movie is available as a non-3D, Russian DVD, although the disc has no alternate audio tracks, nor subtitles. (It apparently has no distribution in English language markets, but some private venders on Amazon.com list them for sale).

- MRH