Iron Man to kick off fourth quarter
Hit movie reportedly to be released Sept. 30 on DVD, Blu-ray
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 5/5/2008
JULY 21 | Retail sources said Paramount Home Entertainment will release summer blockbuster Iron Man to Blu-ray Disc and DVD on Sept. 30, confirming Internet reports of the street date on sites including The Digital Bits and Blu-ray.com.
Amazon.com is currently accepting pre-orders on Iron Man and lists the title as being offered in three different SKUs, though the site does not give a street date. According to Amazon, the movie will arrive at retail in a two-disc special edition and single-disc version, listed at $39.99 and $34.99, respectively, in standard-definition DVD. The Blu-ray Iron Man is listed at $39.99.
Paramount has not formally announced a street date for the hit superhero flick, which is the highest-grossing summer movie in the U.S. at $314 million. A studio spokeswoman said release plans are not confirmed.
The title will be hyped at this week’s Comic-Con, however. Marvel Studios, the production company behind Iron Man, will pass out a flash drive containing a sneak peek of the Iron Man DVD at its Comic-Con booth.
Anticipating an onslaught of blockbuster movies coming to shelves throughout the holidays, retailers believe Paramount is smart to release Iron Man early in the season.
“I think retail is delighted to have a wealth of product coming, but the concern is how the title releases will cannibalize the one prior,” said one source. “Last year, Spider-Man [3] kicked off [the fourth quarter] at end of October. Now we’re excited that Paramount is coming out early. They will have a couple of weeks to themselves. That’s good for Iron Man.”
Other hot summer movies that will jockey for holiday shelf space include Paramount’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Kung Fu Panda, from DreamWorks Animation. Those titles have so far grossed $313 million and $207 million, respectively. Retailers expect Crystal Skull in October and Kung Fu Panda in November.
Among the titles nearing $200 million at the box office that also are expected on disc in the fourth quarter are Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Hancock, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Wall-E and Warner Home Video’s The Dark Knight, which opened July 18 and grossed more than $155 million in its first weekend, breaking the best-weekend-gross record of Spider-Man 3.