Double-Dipping

One of the more deplorable practices of the motion picture industry is that of “double-dipping” on DVDs–in other words, releasing a regular edition DVD and following it up three months later with a “special edition,” thus suckering true fans of a film into buying the same movie twice. Well, Zack Snyder is going for the coveted “triple-dip” with Watchmen: Warners will release an animated DVD simultaneously with the theatrical release, a standard edition disc once the movie leaves theaters, and an extended edition disc that mixes the theatrical film and the animated film. Well played, you magnificent SOB.

The New York Times piece I linked to is interesting not because it’s full of Watchmen info (though that is, in fact, interesting).* It’s interesting because the author totally ignores the fact that releasing a DVD of animated material to accompany a film is by no means a new marketing strategy. Off the top of my head I can think of two examples: The Wachowski Siblings accompanied The Matrix Reloaded with The Animatrix, and The Chronicles of Riddick dropped with The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury right behind it. I’m sure there are more examples of this behavior. More research, please! How did those releases fare? Were they big money makers for the studio? How do animated DVD companions compare to, say, video game companions? There’s a ton of business-related stuff the author could have gone into…maybe next time.

*By the way, Jonathan Last: Don’t think your slight of Watchmen went unseen. That’s going in the ledger.