Warners recently had it’s people hold an on-line chat with the readers of the Home Video Forum, and there was a ton of news.
First, unsurprisingly, they talked up their new direct order, press on demand service, called Warners’ Archive Collection. With DVD sales started to fall pretty heavily, mostly (sadly) on catalog titles–i.e., old movies–Warners has decided to cut out the middle man and sell them directly to consumers via their website, $20 for a DVD, $15 for digital download.
The price point seems high (although arguably because we’ve become spoiled), but it opens up the idea of eventually pretty much EVERYTHING Warners had being available. That will take a while though. By year’s end, about 200 such titles should be available. More on that in another blog post.
Other news:
WB is looking to release more major silent movies in the years ahead.
Remaining Abbott & Costello movies have been delayed, but will come out.
There will be a batch of old Tarzan movies out at some point in the “near future.”
A Monogram Charlie Chan set out in 2010.
Another Film Noir set is due out in a few months.
The long-delayed Dark Shadows movies will be released in conjunction with the eventual remake starring Johnny Depp.
Warners will release sets of classic shorts (like those seen on Turner Classic Movies) via it’s Archive initiative.
