Bracing for a Tornado of a Sales Season

Finding just the right video gift this holiday season should be anything but an impossible mission. Studios and distributors plan to blow consumers away with a staggering array of summer blasts, family favorites, enhanced editions of beloved classics, re-priced rental hits and quirky collectibles.

Industry observers and retailers predict sales during this crowded fourth quarter will take off, well, to infinity and beyond. It has been a long-fought campaign to change people’s perceptions of video as something to buy and not just rent, and in recent years it has begun to pay off, especially in the lucrative period between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31.

Video sales have doubled since 1991, according to New York- based management consultant firm Alexander & Associates. Last year’s roster of videos priced to be sold (rather than priced for rental), which included “The Santa Clause,” “Batman Forever” and “Apollo 13,” amounted to an increase in volume of more than 13% over the previous year.

Retailers are even more optimistic about this year’s lineup. “We think it’s going to be hugely successful,” said Brian Regan, special projects coordinator for Virgin Entertainment Group. “There are marquee titles in every genre that will generate traffic into the store and create a windfall across the board.”

Summer films will not play as quantitative a role as they did last year, when seven of the season’s top 10 films were made available for sale or rent. But at least two are among the year’s biggest box-office hits and their being released for sell-through certifies them as events.

In stormchaser lingo, Warner Home Video’s Oct. 1 release of “Twister,” which has grossed more than $240 million domestically, for the suggested retail price of $22.96, ranks as an F-5.

Paramount Home Video is mounting its largest campaign ever--topping its efforts on behalf of “Forrest Gump”--in support of the Nov. 12 release of “Mission: Impossible,” which will retail for $19.98.

These releases are illustrative of how the sell-through market has expanded beyond family films, which have traditionally driven the market. One of this year’s surprise successes was the consumer demand for the R-rated “Waiting to Exhale.”

“So many people are buying videos now,” said Cynthia Di Ruscio, manager of Vide-O-Lympix in Huntington Beach. “It’s such a huge market compared to two years ago. It’s so nice to see studios recognizing that there is a market for these films.”

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Box office is no longer the prime consideration in whether to release a movie to sell-through. Star power is also a factor. “Mission: Impossible” set a new domestic record for the biggest Memorial Day weekend opening. But the decision to release it at sell-through had as much to do with Tom Cruise as it did box-office grosses.

“Of the summer movies coming to video at sell-through, this is the only one with a major, major star,” said Paramount executive vice president of sales and marketing Jack Kanne. “Certainly any vehicle with Tom Cruise draws attention, and with his new movie opening in December [“Jerry Maguire”], he’s going to be everywhere.”

To further heighten his presence, Paramount, as part of its promotion, will reprice “Top Gun,” “Days of Thunder” and “The Firm” to $5.99 each, suggested retail, for a limited time.

But what would Christmas be without celebrating “Independence Day”? Though there is no official word yet from FoxVideo, retailers are optimistic that the phenomenally popular film will invade stores by Thanksgiving.

Dennis Fabrizi, a buyer for the 20-20 Video Chain, said, “I heard rumors before ‘Independence Day’ was released theatrically that it would be a fourth-quarter sell-through title. Anytime a movie makes that much money, you can bet it will be a sell-through title as soon as they can realistically get it into video stores.”

Though video is still a hit-driven industry, an unprecedented breadth of non-theatrical programming is coming in the next four months to attract niche audiences and budding collectors. For Generation X-ers, FoxVideo debuts on Sept. 24 a three-volume “X-Files” box set. Oct. 1 is the premiere of the concert videos “The Grateful Dead: Ticket to New Year’s” on Monterey Home Video, and the Irish production of “Riverdance” and the 10th-anniversary concert of “Les Miserables” on the Columbia TriStar Home Video label. Nostalgic baby boomers can rediscover “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” available for the first time on video Oct. 22 from New Kid Home Video.

Yesterday’s new release is tomorrow’s collectible. Among the former rental titles to be repriced for less than $20 include “The Usual Suspects” and “Seven” (Sept. 10), “The American President” (Sept. 24), “Now and Then” and “Home for the Holidays” (Oct. 8), “The Bridges of Madison County” (Oct. 15), John Cassavettes’ “Shadows” and “Faces” (Oct. 29) and “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (Nov. 12).

Also for less than $20, film buffs can own definitive video versions of “The Wizard of Oz” (Sept. 10) and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “My Fair Lady” and the 25th-anniversary edition of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (Oct. 1). Each has been digitally remastered in THX and repackaged in boxes.

Art house devotees will not be neglected. Anchor Bay Entertainment will rerelease on Oct. 6 the British cult sensation “Withnail and I” for $14.98. Fox Lorber Video will release Lina Wertmuller’s “Swept Away” for the first time in its original language for $29.95 on Oct. 29.

Children’s video continues to be the foundation of most home libraries, according to a recent survey published in Video Software Magazine. Of households with children, 70% own 16 or more prerecorded tapes.

Buena Vista Home Video’s unprecedented treasure trove of fourth-quarter releases includes “Muppet Treasure Island” on Sept. 10, and the video debut of “Oliver & Company” on Sept. 24, followed by “James and the Giant Peach” on Oct. 15, culminating two weeks later with the film that many predict will topple “The Lion King” from its throne as the best-selling video of all time: “Toy Story.”

MCA/Universal Home Video is hoping that “Flipper” will make a bigger splash on video than it did in theaters. Despite its lackluster box office, the Oct. 8 release will retail for $19.98. “Each year the opportunities for releasing titles direct-to-sell-through become greater because the market is growing rapidly each year as families build their libraries,” said vice president of marketing Craig Relyea. “ ‘Flipper’ has all the ingredients to become a perfect collectible. It has strong characters and an extremely popular franchise association.”

MCA will also release the produced-for-video “The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists” on Dec. 10 for $19.98.

With so many titles vying for attention, one way to stand out from the competition is the packaging. For its Nov. 5 release of “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” starring Martin Landau, New Line Home Video has created the industry’s first holographic clamshell box.

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One of the most anticipated video events of the season is “The Beatles Anthology,” available Sept. 5 from Turner Home Entertainment for $159.98. This eight-volume box set contains 5 1/2 hours of footage not included in the original ABC-TV broadcast.

Though sell-through is the fastest growing segment of the industry, the rental market is still its bedrock. While fourth-quarter rental revenues in 1995 were down (to $1.5 billion from $1.75 billion in 1994), the market “is still very strong” and spending this year is at previous levels, according to Judith McCourt, director of market research for Video Store magazine.

The holidays are a prime rental period, which may inspire studios to hasten a film’s video release to capitalize on the theatrical buzz. On the average, it takes a film between five and seven months to arrive in video stores, but Columbia TriStar Home Video will release “Multiplicity,” starring Michael Keaton, on Oct. 22, a little more than three months after it opened. One week later, Warner Home Video will release one of the summer’s top 10 hits, “Eraser,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which opened in theaters in June.

Whether or not a film performed well at the box office, retailers said that they use this quick leap to video to their advantage. “People remember that the film was just in the theaters,” said Cynthia Di Ruscio. “The benefit to us is increased rental business. I’ve heard a lot of good feedback on ‘Multiplicity.’ It goes back to the ‘Showgirls’ thing. It doesn’t seem to matter what the critics say. Everyone who didn’t see it in the theaters will rent it.”

Other titles scheduled for the rental market are “The Truth About Cats and Dogs” (Sept. 10), “Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored” and “The Birdcage” (Sept. 17), “Fargo” (Oct. 1), “The Craft” (Oct. 8), “Primal Fear” (Oct. 15) and “Anne Frank Remembered” (Nov. 5).

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How Many Shopping Days ‘Til Christmas?

The Beatles Anthology: Sept. 5

Muppet Treasure Island: Sept. 10

Twister: Oct. 1

James and the Giant Peach: Oct. 15

Multiplicity: Oct. 22

Eraser: Oct. 29

Toy Story: Oct. 29

Mission: Impossible: Nov. 12

Independence Day: (rumor: late November)