Will “Jurassic Park” pull the magic carpet out from under “Aladdin” to become the best-selling video of all time? Will “Jurassic Park” even be released on video this year?
Inquiring video watchers want to know.
Although a date has not yet been announced, Steven Spielberg’s monster hit will be unleashed by MCA/Universal Home Video, and most likely be priced for what the industry calls the “sell-through market” (tapes generally priced less than $30), a source confirms.
Although it takes an average of six to seven months for a movie to go from theater to video store, “Jurassic Park” is an epic exception, says Andrew Kairey, MCA/Universal senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Originally released last June, it is still playing in hundreds of theaters, he notes.
“There are still a lot of legs left in the movie,” he says. ” `Jurassic’ is a phenomenon. We’re dealing with a subject matter that doesn’t get older.”
But until dinosaurs rule the video stores, there will be plenty to keep viewers occupied.
Between January and March, we’ll see summer stragglers and early fall releases, including “The Last Action Hero,” “Hot Shots Part Deux,” “Menace II Society,” “Coneheads” and “True Romance” (January); “In the Line of Fire” and “The Secret Garden” (February); and “Dazed and Confused,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Gettysburg” (March).
Films from the previous fall and winter are usually slated for release from April through June (perhaps “Wayne’s World 2,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” or “Carlito’s Way”), with other winter and some spring titles releasing from July through September.
The industry’s vital fourth quarter, October through December, brings those box office-rich summer films in time for the holidays.
The exceptions to the rules can provide the most exciting discoveries. One example is an art-house fave bidding for a mass audience. It took “Strictly Ballroom,” a February release, one year to make it to video, a prime example, says Disney spokesman Steve Feldstein, “of helping a specialized film find its audience and helping the audience to find it.”
This recipe for success will also affect the video release of “Like Water for Chocolate.”
Besides building audience awareness, Academy Award consideration can also play havoc with release schedules. Oscar contention may also affect the release of “The Fugitive,” “The Age of Innocence,” “The Remains of the Day,” “The Piano” and “Schindler’s List.”
1994 promises to be another classic year for film buffs.
In February, Fox Video will launch its “Hollywood’s Golden Age” collection with seven films starring Norwegian snow queen Sonja Henie.
Fox’s “Studio Classics” collection begins its sophomore year in January with the previously unreleased “The Three Musketeers,” starring the late Don Ameche and the Ritz Brothers. Look for the musical “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” in February, “Anna and the King of Siam” in March and the baseball fantasy “It Happens Every Spring” in April.
MCA/Universal will expand its best-selling “Monsters,” Abbott and Costello and Marlene Dietrich libraries and plans to introduce collections devoted to songstress Deanna Durbin, Ma and Pa Kettle, Francis the Talking Mule and the original science-fiction films that inspired “Matinee.” A Bing Crosby collection will include the musical “Blue Skies.”
Columbia TriStar Home Video will also be a contender for the sell-through classics market with two new releases in its “Studio Heritage Collection.” Tentatively scheduled for release before April are restored editions of “On the Waterfront” and “The Wild One,” starring Marlon Brando.
Families can anticipate competition for their sell-through dollars. Disney will release “The Fox and the Hound” in March, as well as re-release an as-yet-unnamed animated classic later in the year. “We’re Back” and “Beethoven’s 2nd,” to be released by MCA/Universal, are also likely sell-through candidates.
