WEEKLY CineBUZZ REPORT - 12 September 2012

Highlights Of This Week's Report:

- Five of Six Studios Sign On to M-GO
- Dalian Wanda: AMC Purchase Only Start of $10b Investment
- 'Lawrence of Arabia' to Hit Screens on Oct.10th.
- Going To A Higher Frame Rate
- Fox Narrows Theatrical Release Window

M-GO Gets OK From Studios

M-GO, a mobile device entertainment application, backed by Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation has signed on five of the six major studios to offer content day and date with DVD/BluRay releases. WBs, Fox, Sony, Paramount, and Universal will all offer new release and catalog content for both rentals and electronic sell-through.  Disney has not signed on, as yet.

M-GO will be available as a down-load via iTunes and Google Play, will be pre-loaded on Samsung 2012 HDTVs, Blu-Ray players and Intel Ultrabooks.  M-GO will also serve as an UltraViolet retailer, offering streaming and downloading of titles enabled with the 'buy one/play anywhere' cloud based  UltraViolet system.


Chinese Media Giant "Dalian Wanda' Looks to Invest Big in U.S.

Wang Jianlin, CEO

Just having completed it $2.6 billion acquisition of the AMC cinema chain of theatres, Wang Jianlin, Chairman & President of Chinese media giant Dalian Wanda said the the company plans to invest $10 billion in the coming years - with hotels, retail stores, and cinemas at the top of the buy list. Film production is also on the to do list.

Wang hinted about a possible film production fund or joint venture with a major studio.  When asked why he is attracted to the U.S. when there is so much opportunity in China's cinema business, he stated "We can't put all the eggs in one basket."

'Lawrence' Makes Encore

Sony Pictures and NCM Fathom Events is marking the 50th Anniversary of 'Lawrence of Arabia" with a digitally restored version available nationwide at cinemas on October 4th.  This will precede Sony's release of a limited-edition four-disc set on November 13th in a fully-restored Blu-Ray with UltraViolet.

'Lawrence of Arabia' won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1962 and is listed as number 7 on the American Film Institutes's "100 Greatest Movies of All Time".  The restoration is from the original 65mm negative and the presentation features an introduction by Omar Sharif, one of the film's stars.


Moving To A Higher Frame Rate

Hollywood wants to move to a higher frame rate for motion pictures, particularly 3D films. Why and What is meant by HFR.

Film and digitally based movies are projected at 24 frames per second (fps). This has been the standard for film projection for decades, however, the move to a frame rate higher than 24 was not feasible: first, because to move to a 48 fps required twice as much film, and second , it would have necessitated a complete retrofit of all of the 35mm projection systems worldwide.  Now, with digital cinema projection a higher frame rate is possible.

Hollywood supports a 48 fps for 2D movies, but for 3D it becomes more problematic as the effective frame rate for 3D is double the number - to 96 fps, which poses technical issues regarding networking and data compression.  That amount of data could be accommodated on a hard drive but would not be feasible for electronic distribution of movies.

The whole purpose of a HFR is to improve the viewing experience - reducing motion blur and increasing the clarity of the on-screen image.  As it stands, the industry is moving towards a standards criteria for 2D at 48 fps, we'll see what happens for 3D.

Fox Narrows Cinema Release Window

Fox plans on releasing "Prometheus" in a high-definition on-line version about three weeks before its release on DVD or VOD.  This move will shorten the waiting time between theatrical release and normal video release.

Consumers are purchasing more of their movie entertainment via on-line outlets like Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes and Fox wants to take advantage of this trend. 

Prometheus will be available for digital download on Sept 18th well in advance of its October 11th DVD release date.  Fox is calling its electronic movie sale "Digital HD or DHD", and plans on offering many more movies via this marketing mode.  The DHD movies will be available in about 50 countries worldwide.

Best and Happy Movie Going!
Jim Lavorato
We welcome your comments.