Disney is the latest studio to jump on the emerging trend of releasing a key title in Digital HD before becoming available on disc and on-demand. Wreck-It-Ralph, which has made $175.5 million domestically and $275M-plus globally to date, will get that treatment February 12, while its Blu-ray, DVD and VOD offerings will come available March 5. Fox was the first to dip its toes in these waters, releasing Ridley Scott’s Prometheus — it’s biggest title to date — on September 18, three weeks before its disc debut; last month, Fox offered Taken 2 on digital four weeks ahead of its disc debut. The push is to promote the branded Digital HD, which offers downloads of movies weeks before their traditional home video window begins at a discounted price (Prometheus’ price point was less than $15).
Google, Apple’s iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy’s CinemaNow, PlayStation, Walmart’s VUDU, and Xbox Live are aboard the initiative, which is looking to capture a spot on all those tablets, smartphones and smart TVs that flew off the shelves during the holidays. Unlike some other window-shifting initiatives, the exhibition industry is OK with Digital HD as it doesn’t impact the length of the movies’ theatrical runs, which generally spans three months.


One of the best movies of the year.
Would have never seen it in a million years but so glad I did.
Oooohooo $175.5 million Great!
Thud. Thud. What’s that sound? Another shovel of dirt being thrown onto the grave of the home video industry.
Wish they would get on board with Ultraviolet so I can access the file across googletv, smarttvs, xbox360, kids tablets, and other streaming boxes. I was definitely surprised by how much the kids and I enjoyed the movie.
The studios are nuts if they think anyone is going to plop down $15 to stream something when they can own the physical media with features a few weeks later.
You’re not paying attention – these are digital downloads that are yours to keep.
So are any rips that I made from discs that I legally bought. And I can use those ripped files even if (for whatever reason) my Internet services go out and I’m unable to stream. Digital files from a cloud service are only yours for as long as you have access to them.
Oh yeah it’s so easy for anyone to rip a movie from a DVD; especially as they’ve become more encrypted. Maybe you should just offer your services to come to everyone’s home who legally bought a DVD that wanted to transfer to digital format.
actually vudu offers a code you buy …you come home enter it in and watch the movie 2-3 weeks later the disks arrive in the mail. Its a great deal I did it with Prometheus and it was awesome I have the disks and its on my vudu/ultraviolet account.
Disc sales have been declining steadily for years. Blu-ray failed to save the business (Blu-ray growth looks to be on track for single digit growth this year and will be flat or down next yea).
EST is growing steadily.
What happens when Vudu or Cinema Now or whatever goes out of business? Or is there some way to download files?
if it was Ultraviolet then it wouldn’t matter if Vudu or Cinemanow went under because you still had MGO, Flixster that can access your Ultraviolet locker. since this is Disney I guess you have to buy from someone you don’t see going under like Google Play or iTunes and then be limited in your viewing options.
If it is on Vudu HDX, I will buy it early.
I would expect them to get it in HDX like they had Prometheus. and maybe even a few bonus features.