The cast and crew of the new “Battlestar Galactica” would love to take the series to the big-screen, but don’t start Fandagoing your tickets for the movie just yet.
Turns out the creator of the original “Battlestar Galactica”, Glen A. Larson must give his blessing for any big-screen adapation of the show–past or present. And, so far, Larson has not given his approval.
Larson is reported to be less than thrilled with the direction the new series has taken and has, at times, made it difficult on the show. He has the right to dictate if “BSG” can make movies–even including direct-to-DVD movies. Because of this, the upcoming Pegasus-cetered film must air on TV first before it can go to DVD.
Producer David Eick told IESB that he’s extended an olive branch to Larson and that series star Jamie Bamber has begged Larson to allow them to produce a big-screen “Galactica.”
On this week’s Slice of SciFi Show #113, due to air tomorrow, we will be reporting about the new upcoming “Thundercats” movie.
Unfortunately, the details about the upcoming film being a live-action feature based on the popular 80’s toy-line and cartoon series may not be wholly accurate. We have just learned from the L.A. Times that the film won’t be live-action, after all. Instead, it will be rendered via CG. Either our sources are correct or the Times is right. We will keep you posted.
All of the other details in our upcoming broadcast about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the Thundercats film, such as its director, script writer and basic storyline have been verified as accurate.
Warner Brother is ramping up to test the on-demand market. The studio has plans to test the on-demand market to determine the impact the delivery of content on-demand has on other revenue streams, such as DVD purchase and the traditional rental of DVDs.
The pilot program will launch on a trial basis on July 10 with the release of “The Astronaut Farmer.” Warner also plans to test the program world-wide with a bigger box-office hit, “300.”
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the move is an attempt to persuade consumers to rent movies from video-on-demand services rather than from retailers who rent out physical DVDs. Studios typically keep 15% to 20% of revenue from video-store rentals, compared to 60% to 70% of a VOD rental. The studio wants to do that without cutting into the sale of DVDs to consumers, one of its most important revenue streams. But DVD sales, a $16 billion business last year in the U.S., have been slowing, forcing studios to experiment with other sales channels.
Several studios have conducted tests of the video-on-demand system in various markets around the country. Warner is confident sales of movies via VOD won’t have a negative impact on other more traditional streams of revenue. Based on data from the test markets of Denver, Pittsburgh and Austin Texas, Warner found the advertising it did for the VOD programs led to a boost in DVD sales.
“It appears to not be in any way hurting our sell-through business,” said Andrew Mellet, senior vice president for video-on-demand.
Warner’s and other studio’s embracing of the new VOD market has led to some resistance from more traditional delivery firms. Video-giant Blockbuster said the studios must consider the overall market for home entertainment when marketing the films via VOD.
Two retailers, Wal-Mart and Target, have clashed with the popular i-Tunes store and it’s delivery of movies and TV shows on-line. Target even went as far as to pull Disney DVDs from its shelves for a few days when the House of Mouse started to offer digital downloads.
But now, studios believe the retailers are getting more accustomed to the new competition, emboldening movie executives to push the envelope. Warner and other studios already release downloadable copies of movies onto online sales services such as CinemaNow and Movielink on the same day they come out on DVD. Last year, Warner ran a similar experiment with “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “Duma.”
Kurt says
Glen A. Larson may have created the original BG, but it is clear he doesn’t have the talent of the people behind the new Galactica. So he jealously prevents others from doing more with the concept then he ever dreamed could be done.
But I must give credit to Larson for his other achievements. He also created Galactica 1980, Night Rider, The Fall Guy, Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century, BJ and the Bear, and Magnum P.I. (From IMDB) So he is one of the Kings of schlock TV.
OK, I have to admit I kind of liked Magnum.