I occasionally peruse the Apple movie trailers or HD Trailers sites to see what movies I can look forward to seeing.
At the beginning of the year I remember seeing a trailer for Push. Looked interesting. Start with psychics, mix in some secret government agency, and an Asian city to give it a exotic look. Then add a touch of fate of the world to top it off.
But it never turned up in the cinemas.
Maybe Division sent a Wiper out and I don’t remember seeing it? Because, if you look at Amazon, you can see the DVD of Push on sale (as of July).
No, I noticed a advertisement for it on the back of a bus the other day. It appears that Push has only recently been released in Australia (10 September).
Why do we have to wait an extra 6 months for movies to be released here? Sure, some of the big name movies are released everywhere at the some time (eg Matrix, Lord of the Rings). But most movies seem to get stuck in a time dilation effect. Aging at a different rate in Australia than elsewhere in the world.
This slow release schedule, in a fast inter connected world, I can see having 2 main effects.
The marketing effort spent on the movie is wasted. That the online reviews pushing the movie will have gone. Will the public see a movie panned 6 months ago?
People will see it before it makes it to the cinema. Via legal means, buying DVDs online from other parts of the world. Or via piracy, downloading movies shared on the internet.
The film industry seems to be stuck in the old world. And needs to learn to use the new one (without suing everyone).
Other links of interest: