AotC vs Spidey DVD

[JMK]

As usual, stolen from TF.N, and it pits the 2 blockbusters against one another.


SPIDER-MAN (Nov. 1)
Theatrical gross $403 million
Why fans will buy it ''Spider-Man'' was, by far, the summer's biggest movie, winning an audience way beyond the comic-book cult. The flick even got decent reviews.
Why they might not Many have already seen it more than once in theaters, and might have had their fill of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.
Bonus features include Behind-the-scenes footage, Tobey's screen test, and a documentary on Spidey's 40-year-history
Expert prediction ''Spider-Man'' will sell between 20 million and 30 million copies, and could end up as the top-selling DVD at all time, says Scott Hettrick, editor-in-chief of the trade magazine Video Business.

STAR WARS -- EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (Nov. 12)
Theatrical gross $302 million
Why fans will buy it Hey, it's still ''Star Wars.'' Even though most reviewers hated ''Clones,'' and some once-loyal followers have defected from the Force, this is still the most successful movie franchise of all time.
Why they might not ''Clones''' box office take was less than that of ''Phantom Menace''; the same will likely hold true for the DVD.
Bonus features include Deleted scenes with new special effects, and a fascinating making-of-Yoda documentary
Expert prediction ''Clones'' is likely to sell between 15 million and 20 million copies, according to Hettrick, who says its status as the first ''Star Wars'' DVD released in the same year as it hit theaters may give it a boost.




While Spidey may beat AotC, it will be close. It's still SW and everyone wants SW movies in their collection.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think both will do very well, Spiderman may outsell it (I don't think it will sell no 30 million copies, closer to 20, IMO) the main reason both will do very well is Christmas, people will be searching for quick gifts and DVDS are very popular, why else do you think Pearl Harbor was one of the top 5 DVDs of last year?

[BUFFJEDI]

Originally posted by Jedi Master Carr
I think both will do very well, Spiderman may outsell it (I don't think it will sell no 30 million copies, closer to 20, IMO) the main reason both will do very well is Christmas, people will be searching for quick gifts and DVDS are very popular, why else do you think Pearl Harbor was one of the top 5 DVDs of last year? Yeah, That right there. The pearl harbor being in the top 5. Come on there is no way in the world Pearl Harbor sold that many nevee, never, never. Just like the box-office grosses I think dvd/vhs stats are a crock. Like Monster's inc is supposed to be the top of all time, that is according to Diseny's sales figures:rolleyes , and is Pearl Harbor not a Disney movie??anyway I'll shut up.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I think it was 5th (barely in the top 5) And it sold well because of 2 reasons Christmas Shopers (people picking up anything they thought somebody might like) and 9/11, a lot of people thought that film would a perfect way to honor it, I am not sure how many sold for sure (I thought I read top 5, but I could be wrong about that too) anybody have any numbers on it.

[BUFFJEDI]

1. Monsters Inc--. 9,200,000 Units Sold
2. Shrek-- 9,000,000 Units Sold
3. Harry Potter-- 8,900,000 Units Sold
4. Lord of the Rings--- 8,000,000 Units Sold
5. Pearl Harbor--- 7,700,000 Units Sold
6. The Matrix--- 7,500,000 Units Sold
7. Gladiator--- 7,200,000 Units Sold
8. The Fast and the Furious--- 6,500,000 Units Sold
9. The Phantom Menace--- 5,000,000 Units Sold
10. Rush Hour 2--- 4,700,000 Units Sold

[BUFFJEDI]

I guess that makes sense Carr, but still I find it hard to stomach that it sold that many, But than agian I don't claim to know muchO_o

[JMK]

They're predicting AotC and Spider Man to possibly double or in Spider Man's case TRIPLE the existing record? Are they nuts? That's quite a feat if either of them do accomplish that!

[Jedi Master Carr]

I am not sure I know both films are big and it is christmas but 30 million that is insane, I think Spiderman might do 20 million, maybe and AOTC might make it to 15 but it is hard to say. Both will sell more than 10 million copies, I bet but I am not sure if either can make it to 20.

[JediBoricua]

I think Spidey will sell more. But AOTC has a shot because of the great reviews it has been getting, it's a must have for any dvd or home theater afficionado. Spiderman on the other hand does not have any technical specs that will make it a home theater must have for hardcore system owners.


It all will come down to what the kids want for christmas. Spiderman i guess, sadly.

[Darth23]

Most reviewers hated Clones?

It eventually managed a 'Fresh" score from rottentomatoes.

116 Fresh and 67 Rotten.

Not exactly Ecks vs Sever.

:p

[JonathanLB]

Yeah I am SO glad I unsubscribed from Entertainment Weekly. I think they are a bunch of fudgepacking, butt pirates.

Most critics either enjoyed AOTC, or they thought it was at least fairly good. There were hardly any critics whatsoever who did not like TPM, and there were hardly any who didn't like AOTC either. Any review 2 stars or above is a mediocre, not poor, review. I give plenty of movies 2 to 2.5 stars, and that never means that I disliked them or thought they were poor, I just didn't think they were that good either.

EW is always wrong about Star Wars, and I took that to mean they are probably wrong about everything else too, and I don't pay good money to read inaccurate information, so I had no use for their magazine anymore. Plus, I don't appreciate bias in an entertainment magazine. I just want the facts, no BS.

AOTC will beat Spider-Man on DVD, I believe with 70% certainty. Neither will sell 20 million copies, though, that's idiotic. What are they thinking?!

The quality of the movies and their DVD sales sure have no relationship to each other whatsoever. The Fast and the Furious was a really good movie I thought, FOR WHAT IT WAS, but it's so much worse than about 500 other DVDs out there...

[James Prent]

Originally posted by JonathanLB
Yeah I am SO glad I unsubscribed from Entertainment Weekly. I think they are a bunch of fudgepacking, butt pirates.

L M A O

[dbn]

It would be nice to see AotC beat Spiderman in something.

[darth_mcbain]

I am getting AOTC, and I don't plan on getting Spiderman. I'll probably end up getting it for X-mas, and I won't complain, but I'm not going to actively go out looking for it. It was a decent movie, but IMHO not up to SW...

As for the reviewers, I rarely trust any of them. After all, they're just people with an opinion - why should I feel the need to take their opinion of a movie when I can form my own? Besides, it seems as though it is the "in" thing to do to bash SW, since everyone else likes it, they will stand out if they say negative stuff about it... Just don't listen...

[Hart]

Well, I agree that Spiderman will sell more, but even though I was a HUGE fan of the Spiderman movie, I know AOTC was a much better film.

[JonathanLB]

The head manager of Fred Meyer here in Corvallis was just opening up boxes of Spider-Man DVDs and putting price tags on them.

He said there is no hurry to rush out and buy the movie because they got ELEVEN HUNDRED of them in this small town with a population of only 50,800. LOL.

[JMK]

Geez Jon, they could have included a few Brotherhood of the Wolf DVD's, couldn't they? ;)

Another reason I think Spidey will edge out AotC is the day after halloween release. Spider Man is the #1 costume for trick or treaters this year, and it's no mistake that the DVD comes out the day after halloween. After being jacked up on sugar, kids will annoy the hell out of their kids to buy them Spider-Man, the reason for getting so much candy the very next day. Pretty clever marketing IMO.

[Marcus Telcontar]

As if Spderman will sell 20 million DVD's. HAH! Maybe worldwide...

[ReaperFett]

Spiderman was important, as it opens the door for more Superhero films. Two consecutive marvel successes :)


EP2 will make more short-term, SPiderman long-term

[JMK]

I was thinking the opposite. AotC would have the legs on DVD sales while all the kiddies would want Spider Man right away...

[JonathanLB]

There is no question that Star Wars movies will outsell most others long-term. I mean, wait until they repackage all of these DVDs and add a few things here and there, maybe for the ultimate editions, and re-release them in the greatest, most sought-after boxed set in DVD history: the entire Star Wars Saga!

That's a huge opportunity for even higher sales. Look at the OT on VHS. Those movies came out very early in VHS history, but they were then re-released, and re-released again, and again, and again, and they remain among the highest selling VHS tapes of all time. The first releases did well, but not many people had VHS, and they kept selling well over the years. Then they came out again in a MASSIVE THX repackaged release that sold an incredible number of copies (something like 10 million of each movie, 30 million total worldwide), but that wasn't all, oh no, they came out two years later in Special Edition versions, August of 1997 actually. They remained on the top 10 sales charts for many, many months. Then again they were repackaged more recently after TPM.

Now TPM is being resold on DVD with AOTC in a special set, isn't that right? They made a "Full Screen" TPM version as I understand that is coming out soon or something, or that is what I read.

The point is, Spider-Man could easily outsell AOTC in the first year or two even, but if you skip ahead 10 years, you'll definitely find that AOTC has sold more copies.

You don't need to look any further than Return of the Jedi to realize the Star Wars films gain critical acclaim and popularity as time passes.

I am not sure how many of you have seen the AFI's top 400 nominee list that they compiled to make the final top 100, but Return of the Jedi (and of course ESB) both made that best 400 films of all time list, which is still pretty darn good (roughly 4-5 movies selected from each year, on average)! When ROTJ came out, though, I don't think the critics would have ever admitted it would be a classic at all. Rotten Tomatoes has about 65% of them giving it a poor review back in 1983, then it increased to about 70% approval by 1997.

TPM and AOTC (which already enjoyed widespread acclaim by fans and many critics) will only get better with age as the Saga becomes even more understandable with all 6 parts completed.

Also, while Spider-Man is just another big DVD release to DVD collectors, AOTC is a DVD they must own because it's a milestone in much the same way The Matrix was for selling a million copies before any other film had done that on DVD, I believe, or just like Top Gun was the first million-seller on VHS. AOTC is the first-ever digital to digital transfer, making it the most perfect, most high quality transfer yet, and unlike with other areas of DVD and movie commentary, that is fact, not opinion. No film to digital transfer can compete with digital to digital and that's just a simple law of DVD quality, hehe.

Plus, how many kids want Spider-Man but don't want Star Wars on DVD? I don't think too many.

I'm buying both of these films, duh.

"Geez Jon, they could have included a few Brotherhood of the Wolf DVD's, couldn't they?"

LOL, yeah no kidding man. Ok so they got 10 copies of Brotherhood of the Wolf they said and sold out in 2 hours, and finally two weeks later they got about 15 more copies of the movie and those seemed to last ok, but I already got mine back in Portland by that point.

1,100 copies truly boggles the mind. I mean, ok first because that is 1 copy for every 50 people in Corvallis, not TOO unreasonable, but if you think Fred Meyer is the only way you can get Spider-Man on DVD, hehe, umm.... the town is not THAT small!!! We have plenty of other DVD outlets, like Borders will be carrying many copies too, and how many people are just going to buy it from Best Buy or Amazon.com or whatever other online retailer? So that number of DVDs initially is rather remarkable. To say they are well prepared is a bit of an understatement.

The sad thing is, this guy, who is the manager of that section, seemed to indicate they are not getting all that many AOTC copies in. Well, it's not really relevant because they will either sell out and be forced to get more of them quickly, or they will be left with a lot of Spider-Man DVDs they'll have to discount and give away or something (buy two other movies, get Spider-Man free! They did that with Titanic because the DVD sales were pretty poor compared to the production).

DVD sales really do not correlate with much of anything. The highest grossing movies are not the biggest DVDs, the best movies as far as critical acclaim are not the biggest DVDs, there is no link between quality and quantity sold. I'd like to think there is a tiny relationship between box office dollars and quality sometimes. For instance, I'd say that if you watch the top 100 highest grossing movies, you are mostly seeing an enjoyable bunch of films. But it does not work the other way (movies that don't make much money are not good; no, that is just not true).

I really think that most reasonable people, and even critics, could agree that the top 100 highest grossing films offer a lot of high quality movies. There are a few utter stinkers, but there are some major Oscar winners too. Titanic won best picture, Star Wars and E.T. were nominated for best picture, LOTR was nominated for best picture, among other things, so you can't say there is ZERO correlation between ticket sales and quality. You just can't say there is a direct correlation either. Hehe, that might be fun to calculate statically, like the level of correlation, with 1 being a perfect correlation if you know statistics and -1 being a perfect negative correlation, and 0 being no correlation whatsoever.

[Jedieb]

I got a copy of the bare bones Sidey DVD last week. But I'm not shelling out anything extra for the deluxe edition. I think the Spidey DVD sales will play out a bit closer than the B.O. race, but not much. Spidey is just going to have a wider appeal. These DVD records are going to fall every year as more and more players are sold. By the time the OT get released on DVD we may see it take the record with sales of over 50 million.

[JonathanLB]

Star Wars has a far wider appeal than Spider-Man. It remains to be seen whether or not AOTC specifically can beat Spider-Man's DVD sales.

[JMK]

Spider Man has a wider appeal that Attack of the Clones, maybe not Star Wars in general. How else do you explain the huge discrepancy in B.O. totals? They were released in the same month, so ticket prices were the same. And you can't grasp at straws and say that SW toys outsold Spider Man toys therefore has more appeal. AotC had people seeing the movie anywhere from 5-50 times. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who saw Spider Man 5 times in theaters, let alone 50. If you took away all multiple viewings AotC and Spider Man, the grosses would be even further apart. I bet Spider Man would have wound up with 320-350M while AotC would be down near 200-230M.

[Jedieb]

JMK understands exactly what I meant. Look, Spidey is a popular character to begin with. I wouldn't say that Spidey's appeal was broader than all of SW, but the movie reached a wider audience than AOTC did this year, plain and simple. AOTC even lost the WW battle which is a place where Guru and many of us thought AOTC would make up ground.

The multiple viewings JMK mentioned bring up a good point. There's no way Spidey had as many people as AOTC putting in 10+ viewings. Which means that $100M margin was generated by a wider audience.

[ReaperFett]

Theres noone WE KNOW who did this. By the same token, I know more who liked EP2 over Spiderman than vice-versa. Surely thatd mean EP2 would make more with that logic?

[Marcus Telcontar]

Well, if you really what a counterpoint, I could point out Spider Man did well in most International BO.'s, but nowhere what it did in the USA. It really is more of a cultural thing for the USA I think.

[foxdvd]

Maybe that 20 million number is for DVD and VHS....it never really says for sure in that article...

I could see SM doing 10-12 million on dvd, and 8-10 million on VHS....

[JMK]

That makes MUCH more sense. Alot more DVD players will have to be sold in order to sell 20-30 million units.