Theater Owners Force Fox to Reconsider JUSTIN TO KELLY's Fast DVD Date
Theatre owners balked at booking the made-to-make-a-quick-buck 20th Century Fox movie FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY -- Not after seeing how awful the film is, but after seeing red upon learning that Fox planned to release it on DVD just six weeks after it ran in theaters, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. The movie, scheduled for release on June 20, stars Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the talent-free winner and runner-up respectively in the first season of AMERICAN IDOL. According to the newspaper, theater owners were concerned that studios may decide to use a similar strategy with other films in order to boost DVD sales. Noting that the average "window" from theatrical release to DVD release is about five months, the Journal indicated that theater owners were terrified that if moviegoers became aware that the DVD would be released in only a short time, they would skip the in-theater experience. Fox execs, in a lame defense of their decision, claimed that the quickly produced movie was an attempt to exploit the popularity of the series while it is still fresh in the minds of audiences -- as was the quick release of the DVD. But after some of the country's largest exhibitors threatened to refuse bookings of the film on the grounds that even moviegoers dumb enough to consider seeing the film might still be smart enough to simply wait six weeks for the video to appear, 20th Century Fox decided to postpone the DVD release until September. Which means FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY will still be on DVD in time to be screened by RAZZIE Members before Nominating Ballots for The 24th Annual RAZZIES are due next Spring...