‘Batman’ in Video Stores for Christmas? It’s Not Likely

“Batman” and “Ghostbusters II” for Christmas.

The prospect had the retailers at the eighth annual Video Software Dealers Assn. convention, a four-day event that ends here today, drooling. Movies like these that reap huge grosses at the box office usually don’t show up in the home-video market until a year or so after theatrical release. To get them less than six months after their first showings, still fresh in consumers’ minds, could mean a home-video business bonanza.

The video retailers are getting half of their Christmas wish.The pre-convention reports about “Ghostbusters II” turned out to be true, but not about “Batman”--at least not yet.

One of the main purposes of this convention is for manufacturers to reveal to retailers what’s coming for the holiday season. Blockbuster titles bring consumers into the video stores--which is particularly important during the fiercely competitive holiday season, when all retailers are luring shoppers.

The Christmas release of “Ghostbusters II”--at $90 per cassette--was revealed at the splashy RCA/Columbia dinner Sunday night. But the company didn’t say precisely when the film will be available.

Though RCA/Columbia executives wouldn’t say why the company didn’t reveal the date at the dinner, others at the convention speculated that such an early announcement of the release date might cause sales momentum to peak early. A later announcement, with lots of promotion and advertising, would probably generate more sales of rental copies to retailers and distributors. Also, video advertising now might interfere with box-office business.

It’s possible that Warner Home Video might still make an announcement that “Batman” will be available for Christmas--perhaps at the company’s big convention lunch this afternoon--but it appeared doubtful Tuesday.

One problem is that an announcement of a video release now might hurt the movie at the box office; to date it has grossed more than $200 million and is still going strong. Also, a reliable source noted, an early release in this country might cause piracy that would affect home-video business in foreign markets where the movie hasn’t yet opened.

More telling was the fact that “Batman” would require such a huge duplication order--possibly 10 million to 12 million units--that the process would have to be under way now to satisfy the Christmas demands. It isn’t, the source said.

Most likely, “Batman” will be a late-winter or a spring release, the source said, and priced between $20 and $24 to stimulate sales to consumers.

Aside from the buzz about “Batman” and “Ghostbusters II,” the most talked-about topic at the convention--a distant second, though--is the “defective tapes” issue.

Herb Fischer, MGM/UA Home Video’s senior marketing vice president, insisted that the issue is misnamed. “When you say ‘defective tapes,’ people think the tapes coming to the stores are defective,” he said. “That’s not true. The problem is tapes that are ruined by consumers whose VCRs aren’t in great shape.”

Lou Berg, president of the Video Software Dealers Assn., contended that this is a major problem among retailers, who are losing money on the ruined tapes and resorting to piracy--copying tapes--to make up for the loss. Berg said that retailers want video companies like MGM/UA to share the costs of the ruined tapes. The companies, of course, are resisting this idea.

Fischer, while careful not to demean the subject, downplayed it. “It’s not a burning issue,” he said. “There are no other burning issues at the convention, so people are talking about this one and maybe giving it more time than it deserves.”

Fischer’s complaint is that there are no figures to support the retailers’ claim. He said, though, that his company is doing its own study.

“Having us help pay for the damaged tapes is one possible solution. There are others. But something will be worked out,” Fischer said.