TOM LONG - BUBBLE FINALLY BREAKS

Can a movie that everyone knows will be out on DVD on Tuesday and available on high-definition pay-per-view right now open reasonably well in theaters on Friday? It's a question that the industry hopes will be answered this weekend with the opening of Steven Soderbergh's Bubble. (The DVD version of the movie can also be purchased in the lobbies of the 34 theaters showing it.) The film, which was produced by Mark Cuban's 2929 Entertainment and distributed by his Magnolia distribution company, is only the second film ever released that has ignored the lengthy window that is usually maintained between the time a film is released in theaters and on DVD. Fearing that closing the window will affect ticket sales, many theaters have refused to screen Bubble. Of the 34 that have agreed to run it, 19 are owned by Cuban -- representing his Landmark Theatres art-house chain. Tom Long, film critic for the Detroit News commented that the release plans mark "a major milestone in the history of motion pictures ... a turning point that is sure to affect the way movies are both made and seen." Bonnie Britton in the Indianapolis Star wrote that the film aims "a curve ball right at the industry's head."

27/01/2006