Best Sellers, Worst Sellers

[dx23]

Well, they are now only 10% off, so the price is ridiculous when almost every other online DVD retailer has them individually for at least 20% off.

[jaredsap]

Well, they are now only 10% off,

Now that is way overpriced.

[OliverB]

Have you guys seen the coverart for the boxes yet? Every one of these directors are pictured sitting on a dock, amazing!

Where can you see the cover art?

And are we certain that these are going to remain exclusive to Amazon?

[eez28]

Have you guys seen the coverart for the boxes yet? Every one of these directors are pictured sitting on a dock, amazing!

Where can you see the cover art?

It was a joke, referring to the upcoming Bergman box

[Tommaso]

I wonder if Criterion will have an Eclipse set ready for early December or some other really intriguing releases before Christmas to rake in some extra cash?

Do we really know that the current releases (and the generally 'less interesting' stuff this year) are not appearing precisely because they want to make some money? I'm thinking of Peerpee's recent word about MoC having no plans to release more Mizoguchi simply because the existing sets barely made the break-even point, the possible consequences of Blu Ray etc. "Chunking" and "Spy who came in from the cold", probably even "Fanfan" will reach a far wider audience of buyers than the things we are all craving for: Rossellini, more Mizoguchi, Kobayashi, Gremillon, Sternberg silents, Rivette etc. I'd bet that "Last Emperor" sold more than all three Ophuls discs will sell together. Which is a shame, of course.

[Jeff]

I wonder if Criterion will have an Eclipse set ready for early December or some other really intriguing releases before Christmas to rake in some extra cash?

Do we really know that the current releases (and the generally 'less interesting' stuff this year) are not appearing precisely because they want to make some money? I'm thinking of Peerpee's recent word about MoC having no plans to release more Mizoguchi simply because the existing sets barely made the break-even point, the possible consequences of Blu Ray etc. "Chunking" and "Spy who came in from the cold", probably even "Fanfan" will reach a far wider audience of buyers than the things we are all craving for: Rossellini, more Mizoguchi, Kobayashi, Gremillon, Sternberg silents, Rivette etc. I'd bet that "Last Emperor" sold more than all three Ophuls discs will sell together. Which is a shame, of course.

Precisely. Just because they don't get the membership of this forum all hot and bothered doesn't mean they won't be profitable. I imagine that Bottle Rocket and Chungking Express will end up as two of the most profitable releases in the entire collection. At the moment those covers went online, thousands of 18-year-olds who just enrolled in the "Intro to Film Studies" course at their local community college put down their Wii controllers and text messaged their friend(s) with the good news.

If Criterion can break even on the Blu-rays, November should easily be the best fiscal month in 2008.

[justeleblanc]

It seems that My Dinner with Andre has been on the back-burner for quite some time and that wouldve been a solid addition to make profits this time of year. Maybe they're Louis Malle'd out right now?

Or maybe they're just waiting for '09. It would be nice if they release it along with Vanya, but that may not happen.

Though there was some talk here about Janus owning The Thief, but does anyone have any evidence of this or was it just conjecture.

[Narshty]

Just because they don't get the membership of this forum all hot and bothered doesn't mean they won't be profitable. I imagine that Bottle Rocket and Chungking Express will end up as two of the most profitable releases in the entire collection.

I'd expect quite a few dads receiving The Spy Who Came in from the Cold for Christmas too.

[Jeff]

Just because they don't get the membership of this forum all hot and bothered doesn't mean they won't be profitable. I imagine that Bottle Rocket and Chungking Express will end up as two of the most profitable releases in the entire collection.

I'd expect quite a few dads receiving The Spy Who Came in from the Cold for Christmas too.

Yes. That too.

The guy playing Mulvaney several years ago mentioned that Bottle Rocket was their most requested title by a very large margin, and I believe Becker echoed that comment a few years later. Of course many of those clamoring for Wong and Anderson in the late '90s may have grown to be the ones clamoring for Grémillon and Kobayashi now. Criterion's fanbase may have moved on somewhat, but I suspect there is a new generation of young cinephiles that will still be thrilled with these.

Criterion is certainly counting on these being their big moneymakers. It's no coincidence that The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Bottle Rocket, and Chungking Express are the titles being released three days before what is generally considered to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

[domino harvey]

You are nuts if you think Fanfan isn't going to be the worst-selling title released this year

[Tom Hagen]

I'll see your comments Jeff, and raise you one "Bottle Rocket will be the most purchased 2008 Criterion title by members of this forum." (It helps, of course, that there will be no way for me to prove this.) As fashionable as it has become to tee off on him in the critical intelligensia, Wes Anderson was the gateway drug for a lot of people into the Criterion Collection.

[mfunk9786]

You are nuts if you think Fanfan isn't going to be the worst-selling title released this year

Which is why it was released in the same month as some heavyweight titles - no one will notice or care, least of all at Criterion, while they're counting their Bottle Rocket money.

[souvenir]

You are nuts if you think Fanfan isn't going to be the worst-selling title released this year

I'll bet it sells more than Miss Julie.

[Jeff]

You are nuts if you think Fanfan isn't going to be the worst-selling title released this year

Oh, it'll definitely be among the worst, which is why, as mfunk said, they are putting it here to absorb the cost. The whole Fanfan release, from the virtually nonexistent supplements to the middle-school art project cover smacks of Rialto contract fulfillment. It might sell to a few fans of old swashbucklers who don't realize it's French, or to some poor old grandma who thinks it's a direct-to-video cartoon adaptation of that Pirates of the Caribbean that the kids are always talking about. Junior is gonna be pissed when that shows up in his stocking.

[colinr0380]

At the moment those covers went online, thousands of 18-year-olds who just enrolled in the "Intro to Film Studies" course at their local community college put down their Wii controllers and text messaged their friend(s) with the good news.

Don't you mean their PS3 controllers?

[Narshty]

If Fanfan is this year's Hopscotch, what was last year's - Border Radio or The Two of Us?

(In fact, shouldn't "Honorary Hopscotch Award" be a new category in the end-of-year forum poll?)

[Tootletron]

You are nuts if you think Fanfan isn't going to be the worst-selling title released this year

I'll bet it sells more than Miss Julie.

Which would probably sell better if they weren't charging a two-disc price for it.

[domino harvey]

If Fanfan is this year's Hopscotch, what was last year's - Border Radio or The Two of Us?

(In fact, shouldn't "Honorary Hopscotch Award" be a new category in the end-of-year forum poll?)

Border Radio for sure-- I mean, no one even bought it when it was mispriced for $14 on Amazon

[HelenLawson]

Fanfan might be the worst-selling title of the year, but that doesn't mean it still won't be profitable. The lack of effort put into this release indicates that Criterion has very modest sales expectations. I imagine their CFO loses more sleep over releases like The Ice Storm, Six Moral Tales, and Berlin Alexanderplatz.

[mfunk9786]

The Ice Storm, Six Moral Tales, and Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Since when are any of these poor sellers? Especially The Ice Storm, that must have moved enough units to be worth putting out.

[HelenLawson]

The Ice Storm, Six Moral Tales, and Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Since when are any of these poor sellers? Especially The Ice Storm, that must have moved enough units to be worth putting out.

I'm not saying they're poor sellers, I'm just saying they probably have higher sales expectations given the more lavish treatments.

[Tom Hagen]

Border Radio for sure-- I mean, no one even bought it when it was mispriced for $14 on Amazon

As of right now, its ranked 71,329 in all of "Movies & TV" on Amazon's sales list. Which is amazing, because I had no idea that there were over 70,000 other DVDs in print.

Edit: for those interested, here are Amazon'sworst-selling Criterions. After Border Radio, its pretty much all OOP stuff.

[Michael Kerpan]

Border Radio for sure-- I mean, no one even bought it when it was mispriced for $14 on Amazon

As of right now, its ranked 71,329 in all of "Movies & TV" on Amazon's sales list. Which is amazing, because I had no idea that there were over 70,000 other DVDs in print.

Border Radio has 106 votes on IMDB.

(For comparison Zhang Yimou's Keep Cool -- which has never really been distributed in the West -- except in Spain -- has 544 votes).

;~}

[mfunk9786]

25 lowest selling in-print Criterions on Amazon.com (thanks Tom, figured I'd make it easier to navigate through the OOP ones):

1. Border Radio
2. Indiscretion of an American Wife/Terminal Station
3. Mona Lisa
4. Le Coup de Grace
5. Gate of Flesh
6. Samurai II
7. Samurai III
8. Schizopolis
9. Secret Honor
10. Clean, Shaven
11. Samurai I
12. The Pornographers
13. Great Adaptations Boxset
14. Samurai Spy
15. Tanner '88
16. Solo Con Tu Pareja
17. Fighting Elegy
18. Sword of the Beast
19. The Element of Crime
20. Pepe Le Moko
21. Rebel Samurai Boxset
22. The White Sheik
23. Sanjuro
24. Paul Robeson Boxset
25. Jubilee

[swo17]

I don't think this is an all time list though--more like current best/worst sellers, though who can say how "current" is defined. The current top 10 has Last Emperor, The Red Balloon, Brand Upon the Brain!, Vampyr, 24 Eyes, Larisa Shepitko, and Thief of Bagdhad.