Warner Bros. to Launch On-Demand Film Trial
VOD same day as Video releases
Friday, June 15, 2007
by Sarah McBride
Warner Bros.' plan to release selected movies to video-on-demand services at the same time they come out on DVD is a test of whether Hollywood can expand one distribution pipeline without hurting another.
The studio, a unit of Time Warner Inc., New York, will begin the trial nationally July 10 with the release of "The Astronaut Farmer," which took in only about $11 million at the box office. It will test larger titles such as "300" in certain overseas markets later in the summer.