COPYCENSE

“When Steven Soderbergh releases his next film on January 27, it will have not only the critics squawking, but Hollywood studio execs, too. Bubble, an all-digital thriller, is set in an Ohio doll factory, and all of the actors are completely unknown. But that’s not even the interesting part. The movie goes out to theaters, DVD, and high-definition cable TV – all on the same day. It’s an experiment that threatens to uproot the film industry’s long-standing ‘release window’ formula, which staggers a picture’s release on various platforms to maximize profits.

“WIRED: Why did you decide to release Bubble in all formats at once?

SODERBERGH: Name any big-title movie that’s come out in the last four years. It has been available in all formats on the day of release. It’s called piracy. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, Ocean’s Eleven, and Ocean’s Twelve – I saw them on Canal Street on opening day. Simultaneous release is already here. We’re just trying to gain control over it.”

Xeni Jardin. Thinking Outside the Box Office. Wired. December 2005.

Updates:

Jason Silverman. Bubble Fails to Rock Tinseltown. Wired News. Feb. 13, 2006.

Ronald Grover. Will Bubble Burst a Hollywood Dogma? BusinessWeek Online. Jan. 24, 2006.

John Borland. Soderbergh Does a DVD-Theater Release Combo. News.com. Jan. 12, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.