“When Edward Burns’s latest romantic comedy, ‘Purple Violets,’ had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, it drew positive reviews, but only lukewarm offers from movie distributors,” David M. Halbfinger reports for The New York Times. “Mr. Burns, the director of indie favorites like ‘The Brothers McMullen’ and ‘She’s the One,’ but whose latest movies have not done as well, knew from experience how that story would end, he said: ‘Not enough money to market the film, not a wide-enough release to even make a dent in the moviegoing public’s consciousness.'”
Halbfinger reports, “So he and his partners, who spent $4 million making ‘Purple Violets,’ instead are gambling any chance of recouping their investment on a distribution deal that involves not a single theater. On Nov. 20 the film will go up for sale exclusively on iTunes.
Halbfinger reports, “It’s the first time a feature film will make its commercial debut on Apple’s digital download service, but only the latest deal aimed at winning attention for the iTunes movie category.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “qka” for the heads up.]
the floodgate has been opened.
Once I have my AppleTV 2.0 and if the price is no more than $10.00, then I will buy it.
(I am a very cheap date)
I want to own my music and rent my video. What’s a boy to do?
This could be a very big deal. If the producer makes good money on his film by releasing through iTunes, it could validate the iTunes movie business as a real option for indie film makers. This could trigger a flood of really good films that bypass the MiddleBronfmans of the film business.
Hollywood must be pissing in their pants over this experiment.
You know, Hollywood was very wary of VHS/Betamax because they figured it’d kill the cinema. If anything, distributing movies through iTunes will expand their market and profits.
Too bad they like change as much as the Amish.
I could not have agreed more. This will truly test the distro channels of the movie industry. We definitely do need to bypass the MiddlebBronfmans.
I can’t wait until the new cultural comment by Tim Throbbins as The RectumDefier in “Boise”.
“I smell another Oscar”……
Yeah, MOTO, you are right. Here’s hoping the Leopard release will address this and soon Apple will be offering a digital rental service.
This is what I have been waiting for. Tell the MPAA to choke on their greedy money pile. This is a chance to liberate cinema from the ‘deciders’ with a decidedly lowbrow taste.
When the movies are available in a DRM-free format for purchases, I’ll be interested.
never heard of the guy, but i like the move. maybe i will buy it…..
Too bad this story came out 28 days too early,
I really liked his civil war documentaries.
Price of a ticket to the movie theatre- $7-12, give or take depending upon venue. Can’t take it home, can’t put it onto a DVD, can’t encode it for your iPod. Price of a DVD, which you can take home, $9-30, depending upon distribution. As such, iTunes movies being over $10 ($9.99) is a crime.
“..This will truly test the distro channels of the movie industry. We definitely do need to bypass the MiddlebBronfmans.”
It’s possible a move like this could work for an indie film that only cost 4 million to make..
Unfortunately, there is no way to eliminate the Middlebronfmans from the big budget Hollywood films that cost between 100-200 million to make.. Not many film makers have that kind of cash laying around. And it would take an awful lot of iTunes downloads to recoup that kind of money.
anthony007,
You may be thinking of Ken Burns who does documentaries. This is Edward Burns, who used to work for “Entertainment Tonight” before he became a director & actor.
Let’s see a quality Disney movie released as an iTunes exclusive before going to DVD. That would be a coup!
I love his latest WWII documentary.
Oh gawd… this Edward Burns is not, repeat not KEN Burns, who made the latest “War” documentary for PBS, or RIC Burns [his brother] who made the “New York City” documentary.
This is another director/actor/producer who is also extremely talented.
I also like the ‘Ed’ Burns effect when viewing slide shows. lol
MainMan:
Edward Burns also co-starred in “Saving Private Ryan”.
Is this the same Burns that used to be on the Simpsons? Ken and Ed are so easily confused . . .
Not to be confused with Head Burns.
That date ended up being very expensive…..
Ed was flaming hot in the movie were he had scissors for hands