Other Crap

Mark Cuban Taps Soderbergh to Direct Six HD Movies; Simultaneous Release Planned in Theaters, DVD, Cable.

• Steven Soderbergh recently signed a deal with Mark Cuban's 2929 Entertainment to shoot his next six movies in high-definition and release them simultaneously in theaters, on DVD, and on subscriber television.
• Ballsy move: unique, creative, and groundbreaking. Smart? Maybe. Only time will tell. Cuban is putting some serious bucks on the line, and Soderbergh is agreeing to devote a big chunk of his life. A possible limitation is that they are planning to give Landmark Theaters temporary exclusivity, and I think that chain has fewer than 250 screens, so initial distribution will be miniscule by blockbuster standards. (Major releases hit 3000+ screens.) On the other hand, Landmark is in all the biggest markets, so if the movies are hot tickets, the chain could clean up on market exclusivity by running up some massive sales per screen. If they can't meet consumer demand for tickets, then the distributor could possibly command a premium price to Landmark's hungry competitors in the major cities and/or theater chains that have presence in smaller markets. In my opinion, the entire project completely hinges on the ability of their marketing people to create a demand for the films - and that means they need to acquire name performers and avoid airy-fairy Birkenstock movies.
• I'm guessing that Soderbergh, an ethical, thoughtful man respected by actors, will call in as many favors as he can, hoping to round up some star power without paying the megabucks normally needed to get it. That's his thing. In the past, he has convinced people like Julia Roberts and George Clooney to work on his projects for paychecks smaller than they are used to.