This is a bit like saying that movies will kill live theater. Or that TV will kill the publishing business.
Hollywood appears to be all worried about declining DVD sales.
Well the price of a DVD went from about 15 bucks to 25 bucks, because I only count the “2 disk special editions.” A lot of what gets produced in Hollywood is schlock. The only reason for looking at the DVD is for the “extras.” So yeah, that high a price increase, will lead to lower sales. I guess those in movies are too “cool” to have studied economics.
Add to that the continuing (and it is continuing, but probably about to be over) saga of Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD and I am surprised anyone is buying any DVD. I’m not. I may start again, once the price of Blu-ray players is reasonable. (400 – 500 dollars isn’t) But only if some of the problems with Blu-ray get sorted out. (I don’t want to be forced to watch previews = advertisements every time I put a disk in the player.) Still, knowing that I’m not buying the next Betamax, may help.
I hope the writers get their contracts, since I think that writers are what start most movies worth seeing. (When I think of a concept film, done with a “star” in mind, I always think of something like Waterworld or The Postman etc. And I think they could have used a writer or 2 not in love with the star or their own cleverness.)
But don’t don’t kid yourself that yours is an industry devoted to art. (If you think movie making is all about art, watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, or Matrix 2 and 3, or at least half of the sequels/prequels out there.) Or just about anything by Uwe Boll – though he manages to not make any money, so maybe he is about art. He certainly makes schlock. Resident Evil is about watching Milla Jovovich. Rambo or Die Hard, is about watching things blow up. Very little of it is about art, and almost none of the true art comes out of the studio system anyway.
