DREAMWORKS - TRANSFORMERS TRANSFORMS DVD BUSINESS

First-week DVD sales of Paramount/DreamWorks' Transformers totaled8.3 million copies, more than half of them -- 4.5 million -- sold on thefirst day, a record for the year. Moreover, the HD DVD edition sold 190,000copies during the first week, making it the best-selling HD DVD ever.(Paramount/DreamWorks recently agreed to release movies on high-definitionvideo exclusively in the HD DVD format.) In a statement, Paramount HomeEntertainment President Kelley Avery said, "We're happy to be kicking offthe fourth quarter with a title that clearly shows home entertainmentreleases are still an event that drives consumers into stores -- which is awin for both content providers and retailers." However, director Michael Bayhas indicated that he is unhappy with the DVD release, suggesting that hewould have liked to have had a more influential role in its production, butwas tied up promoting the movie. "Studios want to pump this stuff out, andmy job is to care about it and try to put the right people on it," he toldUSA Today. "They just see it as a show they are selling, and I see itas a movie. That's how your movie lives on, in the DVD format."

23/10/2007