I’ve known about this for a while, but I’ll put this up here for those that didn’t read my Friends of English Magic blog (now defunct). Tescos are to bankroll a series of movies, in association with US/UK based development firm, Amber Entertainment, the results of which will initially be exclusive to all Tesco stores on DVD (and possibly Blu-Ray I presume).
Good idea? Bad idea? I think it’s a bad idea. Amber will really need to up the ante with regards to changing the public’s mind about the quality of straight-to-DVD films. The general public assumes (and for the most part, quite rightly) that straight-to-DVD movies are of low grade quality. I’ve seen a few turkeys in my time (especially the Starship Troopers sequels – they’re so bad, they’re funny). What happens when the initial exclusivity ends? Can LOVEFiLM get a look in for rentals (which is ironic given that Tesco’s DVD rental service *IS* LOVEFiLM)? Will they go to cinema (otherwise why spend lots of money of high-end camera kit for low-res TV entertainment – dig out that Super8 camera or that battered VHS-C camcorder and be done with it!).
I also shudder at the prospect that the same people responsible for bringing the appalling Golden Compass to the big screen are going to try again with another Philip Pullman adaptation. That poor sod must be a glutton for punishment!
Quite frankly, if I was a book author and was approached by Tesco/Amber to have my work turned into a film for DVD purposes only, I’d run away screaming. Apart from Lord of the Rings, Amber’s former executives are not exactly well known for producing hit after hit. A few development projects from hell include: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (rights were announced in 2004, it’s 2010 and the script has undergone various re-writes by two screenwriters and still nothing), and The Man on Platform Five by Robert Llewellyn (six screenwriters have attempted this and the project appears to be officially dead). There was also Inkheart which DID make it the screen, but flopped at the box office (although I rather liked it myself). As did The Golden Compass (liked the book, detested the film).
I believe Tesco are being terribly misguided about all of this. I think that it *may* have a very marginal success for *some* titles, but it’ll flop spectacularly like Hugh Hefner without Viagra for most of the others and eventually Tesco will walk away licking it’s wounds. I’d like to be wrong, of course, since I’m all for independents raising funds for producing movies – but I’m just not sure that exclusive supermarket distribution is the way forward.
I wonder, if other supermarkets got in on the act, how those films would turn out. Kwik-Save presents A Toothbrush With Death! Lidl presents Con-Air Freshener! Morrisons’ presents Pie Another Day. You get the idea.
