Stores brace for 'Twilight: New Moon' DVD release

Source: MLive.com


HOLLAND -- In a Walmart store just a short walk from where "New Moon" star Taylor Lautner perfected his karate moves as a kid, a "Twilight Saga Shop" has been temporarily erected to feed the hunger of the series' fans.

If the crowd of more than 500 that descended on the store last March for the release of the "Twilight" DVD is any indicator, this store will be swarming with fans Friday night as they wait for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" DVD to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Siouxsie Sherman, a department manager at the store, admitted she's glad she isn't scheduled to work that night, because she plans to be in line to buy the DVD. She has seen the film 15 times in theaters but said that isn't enough to really determine if "New Moon" is a better film than "Twilight," which she has watched on DVD about a 100 times.

LIST
This Saturday, area stores plan to roll out their specially packaged DVDs for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon":
Target
Three-disc "Deluxe Edition."
Exclusive feature: 60 minutes of extra footage and bonus collectible film cell.
Price: $24.99

Walmart
Two-disc "Fans Edition"
Exclusive feature: 50 minutes extra footage, including seven-minute preview "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
Price: $24.96
Events: Midnight events at 2,600 24-hour stores.

Best Buy
Two-disc "Steelback Package"
Exclusive feature: Metal container; free cell phone skin for pre-orders
Price: $24.99
Events: Midnight store opening at Comstock store.

Barnes & Noble
Two-disc "Special edition"
Exclusive feature: Dreamcatcher bag clip for preorders.
Price: $24.99

Meijer
Two-disc "Special edition"
Price: $24.99
Event: Midnight parties in 10 markets, including Grand Rapids. The Knapp's Corner store will host a party from 10 p.m. to midnight. New Moon gift bags will be given away. Details at 1053hotfm.com.

"To be fair, I need to see 'New Moon' many more times," Sherman said.

Walmart took the same approach with the release of the "Twilight" DVD last year, making it an event with giveaways, contests and even cake.

"The midnight release was the most successful in our history," said Melissa O'Brien, spokeswoman for Walmart entertainment.

"Twilight" also was the most preordered DVD in the retailer's history.

Retailers are offering many tantalizing choices to consumers as they try to take a big bite out of the second installment of the franchise. The teen vampire love story was the top-selling DVD in 2009, selling more than 10.2 million copies and generating sales of $182 million.

Several retailers are wrapping the DVD of the box-office hit in exclusive extras. Walmart's "fan edition" version offers a seven-minute preview of "Eclipse," the "Twilight" saga's third film that will be released in June. Target's version has a third disc with extra behind-the-scenes footage. Best Buy encases its DVD in a steel box, and Barnes & Noble throws in a dreamcatcher bag clip. All sell for just under $25.

"It's causing a lot of backlash among hard-core fans because you don't know what package to choose," said John Latchem, an editor of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based Home Media Magazine.

Fans are almost as torn as Bella Swan is between vampire Edward Cullen and werewolf Jacob Black.

To help with the decision, Latchem has blogged about the myriad of "New Moon" DVD options at agentdvd.com/blog.

For those who don't want to wait in line, Comcast customers will be able to watch the film beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The On Demand showing includes the director's commentary on several of the film's scenes and a preview of "Eclipse."

Comcast reports it offered a similar On Demand deal last year when the "Twilight" DVD was released. The film was On Demand's most rented movie of 2009. The film also will be available on Showtime On Demand.

Offering retailer-exclusive DVDs and CDs is a growing trend.

"The stores would much rather compete on value than price on these titles," Latchem said.

Sales of these collector sets have helped offset the overall decline of the DVD market.

People are buying movies they want to have as part of the collection and expect to view several times, said Bruce Nash, founder and president of Nash Information Services, a consulting and data services firm that tracks DVD sales at its Web site, the-numbers.com.

Both Walmart and Meijer are taking advantage of their 24-hour operation by holding midnight parties for fans who want to buy their DVDs the minute they are released.

"This will be a very big release for us, and we'll have a lot of items in addition to DVDs," Meijer spokesman Frank Guglielmi said.

Meijer is collaborating with radio stations to host midnight parties throughout its five-state area that will include gift bags and trivia contests.

Summit Home Entertainment found success last year releasing the "Twilight" DVD on a Saturday to make it a weekend event instead of the traditional midweek release, Nash said.

Summit also had special editions unique to retailers. On Target's Web site, consumers are complaining the retailer's "New Moon" DVD doesn't include a digital download, like "Twilight" did.

But the biggest gripe among "Twilight" fans is the DVD doesn't include commentary by the stars. Director Chris Weitz said he ended up doing the honors with editor Peter Lambert because stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Lautner were too busy on their press tours promoting the film, according to news reports.

"New Moon" might eclipse "Twilight" sales, but that might not guarantee its reign as the top-selling DVD of 2010. Box-office giant "Avatar" is expected to be released on DVD later this year.

"The way it tracks with franchises is that the box office goes up with the second movie, but DVD sales tend to go down with each release," Nash said.

Still, he said he expects "New Moon" to sell 5 million units in the first few weeks.

"Twilight" DVDs sold steadily for months, staying in the Top 30 for 20 weeks.

The limited editions, however, are designed to sell out quickly.

If you don't get the "New Moon" DVD set you want, don't worry, Latchem said.

"Knowing how the industry works, they'll probably have a giant box set featuring all the films eventually," Latcham said. "And they'll probably have extras we haven't heard of."


Here's a list of some stores who plan to roll out their specially packaged DVDs for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon":

Target
Three-disc "Deluxe Edition."
Exclusive feature: 60 minutes of extra footage and bonus collectible film cell.
Price: $24.99

Walmart
Two-disc "Fans Edition"
Exclusive feature: 50 minutes extra footage, including seven-minute preview "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
Price: $24.96
Events: Midnight events at 2,600 24-hour stores.

Best Buy
Two-disc "Steelback Package"
Exclusive feature: Metal container; free cell phone skin for pre-orders
Price: $24.99

Barnes & Noble
Two-disc "Special edition"
Exclusive feature: Dreamcatcher bag clip for preorders.
Price: $24.99