Johnny Depp is shown as The Mad Hatter in a scene from Alice in Wonderland.Anonymous
As Alice would say, the controversy surrounding the major international release of Disney's Alice in Wonderland next week is growing "curiouser and curiouser."
The remake of the classic children's tale Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , set for a wide theatrical release in both traditional and 3-D-equipped cinemas on March 5, has the enormous potential box-office draw of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. But it's the Odeon cinema chain, the leading movie exhibitor in the United Kingdom, that seems to be acting like the angry Queen of Hearts, practically shouting: "Off with Disney's head!"
Odeon is threatening not to exhibit the Tim Burton-directed film at its theatres across the U.K., Ireland and Italy. This is in response to Disney's plan to shorten the normal four-month waiting period before the movie is released on DVD.
Disney wants to release the movie on DVD in closer to three months' time to reduce the risk of piracy and to get it into stores before the slower summer retail months.
In talks with other British and North American cinema chains, the studio has reportedly agreed to limit this plan to two or three movies a year and not to make this a blanket policy for all of its releases.
Exhibitors, however, see this as a dangerous precedent to limit the theatrical life of potential blockbusters. Disney's move comes at a time when theatre chains have been pouring money into new 3-D projection equipment, hoping to recoup costs with major 3-D releases such as Alice in Wonderland.
With talks continuing, a Disney executive confirmed that the studio now plans to release the DVD 13 weeks after its theatrical opening, instead of 12 weeks as previously reported.
Dean Leland, vice-president of studio relations and media for Empire Theatres, a cross-Canada chain, confirmed that his company is in talks with the studio, but that Empire has no plans to boycott the film. "We're still in very lengthy discussions with them," Mr. Leland said.
AMC, which owns theatres in Canada and the United States - but not in the same Ontario and Quebec markets as Empire - is also in talks with Disney. A spokeswoman for Cineplex, which competes against both chains, said she could not comment because her company is also still in negotiations.
But if Empire and perhaps other chains don't threaten a boycott as Odeon is doing in the U.K., what leverage do they have in their discussions with Disney?
The answer is that the talks aren't just about Alice in Wonderland , but Disney's complete slate of films in the coming months.
Disney reportedly had a prior run-in with exhibitors and relented in its plan to hasten the DVD release last year of its animated film Up. Many see this as a trend in Hollywood.
But the Disney executive, who would only agree to speak without attribution, said that the studio is looking to do this only with certain films at certain times of the year. Early fall releases are another time when Disney would like to hasten the DVD release in order to cash in on the Christmas retail market.
"We completely understand and know the importance of a theatrical window. A huge box office movie is good for the industry, and it's good for every other piece of a movie studio's business - whether it be consumer products, whether it be DVDs, whatever it is," the executive said.
But, he added, "if we want to bring you a huge, Johnny Depp, blockbuster event in March, we need to be able to get that into DVD before the summer holidays, when people aren't buying DVDs. They are outside enjoying the weather."