Posted on 11/06/2003 6:10:13 AM PST by Pikamax
Nov. 06, 2003
'Finding Nemo' surfaces, sells 8 mil copies
By AP "Finding Nemo" is the catch of the day at video stores.
The animated tale sold a record 8 million DVD and VHS copies in its first day Tuesday, breaking the previous high of 7 million set last year by "Spider-Man," according to "Finding Nemo" partners Disney and Pixar Animation.
The studio shipped 25 million copies but already has ordered more, figuring some stores might run out as early as this weekend, said Bob Chapek, president of Disney home entertainment.
"We saw stores yesterday almost going through their inventory on day one alone," Chapek said Wednesday.
DVDs accounted for about 90% of sales. Total sales for "Finding Nemo" could rival the 32 million VHS copies that Disney's "The Lion King" sold in its initial video release in the 1990s, Chapek said.
The numbers will be a key to whether Pixar decides to renew its distribution contract with the Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which comes to term in 2005.
The five movies Pixar has produced for Disney since the mid-'90s -- "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2," "A Bug's Life," "Monsters, Inc." and "Nemo" -- have combined to gross about $1.2 billion at the domestic boxoffice alone.
As their deal nears expiration, Pixar has had discussions with several other major studios.While Jobs has refused to comment on the negotiations with BVHE, industry sources say that home video results for "Nemo" could sway the decision regarding a renewal with Disney.
BVHE is under a great deal of pressure to have "Nemo" become the best-selling DVD of all time, meaning that the two-disc collector's edition would have to top the likes of DreamWorks' "Shrek," Warner Home Video's "Harry Potter" films and New Line Home Entertainment's "Lord of the Rings" series.
" 'Finding Nemo' has generated a great deal of interest, and the volume of bonus material on the second disc, I believe, will make this the best-selling title of the year on DVD," BVHE president Robert Chapek said.
Pixar's partnership with Disney has always attracted top talent to its projects, such as Tom Hanks in "Toy Story," John Goodman and Billy Crystal in "Monsters, Inc." and now Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres in "Nemo."
"I don't know anything about the politics between Disney and Pixar or DVD and VHS," Brooks said. "All I know is what I've always known: It's always about the movie. It's all whether the movie is good or not. And in this case, I believe that the creators did an exceptional job from beginning to end, and the extras on the DVD are actually special. They made a real effort to give the viewer more.
"I have never been much for putting together a whole lot of extra material on a DVD," he said. "I look at a movie as kind of a magic trick, and so I never liked revealing how everything was done. I used to say that you take everything from the cutting room floor and throw it together as 'extras' and then you've got a DVD. But these guys really made a special effort to bring something more to the DVD, the Jean-Michael Cousteau documentary about the Great Barrier Reef, for example, is a whole work in and of itself."
"Nemo" writer-director Andrew Stanton, who has played major roles in all five Disney-Pixar titles, said he wanted to create a narrative using the main characters voiced by Brooks and DeGeneres to guide viewers through the bonus materials and, especially, the Cousteau short film.
"I wanted to make viewing the extras on the DVD an extension of viewing the movie itself," Stanton said. "And by using Albert Brooks (who plays a clown fish and overprotective father named Marlin) and Ellen DeGeneres (who plays a friendly-but-forgetful fish named Dory), I believe we were able to accomplish that goal."
Stanton said that he came up with "Nemo's" original story line while spending an afternoon in the park with his 5-year-old son.
"I was saying, Don't do that; don't touch that -- don't, don't, don't. I completely blew what should have been a wonderful afternoon with my son by being overprotective," Stanton said. "So I set out to make a movie about being able to let go as a parent, and that's why I picked Albert Brooks to play Marlin. He did a great job, along with hundreds of other people. I believe that 'Nemo' relates to all parents and children on many levels, and because it does, it has been well-received."
Wal-Mart: $14.77
AAFES: $19.99, price-matched to $14.77, and no sales tax.
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