The latest trailer for Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 4 has released, this time going into more detail about the environment of Hogwarts. Lego and Harry Potter are sure to be a magical combination when they release later this year in June 2010.
Lion’s Gate has been busily promoting Kick-Ass for the past couple of months between movie trailers, TV ads and online engagement. Early buzz is very positive for the cheeky superhero film and the first public showings are set to hit tonight. To get a final sneak peek, here’s the latest official trailer:
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A couple of new TV spots have released for the much anticipated Iron Man 2. Among the highlights are Robert Downey, Jr. as the humorously snarky Tony Stark, Scarlett Johansson as the sexy and deadly Black Widow, and Don Cheadle kicking butt as War Machine. Honestly, words don’t do it justice; you should just watch them for yourself.
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March reversed a recent industry trend of decreasing sales with results of $1.52 billion, up six percent compared to last year, according to the NPD. Software was up 10 percent to $875.3 million, though hardware declined four percent to $440.5 million.
The Wii rebounded after a couple weak months in sales to 557,500 unit sales, and the DS pushed past 700,000 thanks in part to the launch of Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver. The Xbox 360 was slightly ahead of the PS3 with 338,400 units sold compared to 313,900 units sold.
God of War III led all other games during March with 1.1 million units sold, though Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sold nearly 1.2 million between PS3 and Xbox 360, Final Fantasy XIII moved over 1.3 million units on the same two platforms and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver combined sold nearly 1.8 million copies on the DS.
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}
Just like many silent films had voices added later and some black and white films were colorized, so too are films being enhanced into 3D. One of the first such conversions will be done by DWA for the first three Shrek films for a 3D Blu-ray Disc release.
“Our movies exist in digital files to begin with. To go back and rebuild to a quality 3D experience is not inexpensive, but we are about to achieve a pretty high quality result,” said DWA CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “I think our product will be used to showcase what 3D in the home can offer in terms of the highest quality possible experience.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
First mover advantage is huge in consumer products for mindshare and it’s something that the iPad has captured. While competitors are warming up their own new tablet computers, Christopher Dawson thinks the iPad hitting the market first could produce a similar effect as Viagra did when it came out before other erectile dysfunction medication, leaving Levitra and Cialis fighting for scraps.
“And yet, with the iPad not only first to market but largely unavailable due to high demand (so great, in fact, that international sales have been delayed), one has to wonder what it will take for Android to catch up,” writes Dawson. “It’s a powerful brand among the technorati, but Apple’s is strongest among the elite consumers who can pony up for a device like this. Chrome OS is coming later this year and may actually dillute the brand a bit, while Intel/Nokia are vying for the role of Levitra with their MeeGo OS.”
“To overcome the Apple juggernaut, Google will need to leverage the sheer number of devices that can run Android and be extremely careful of its branding with Chrome OS. It’s taken a while, but it’s slowly beginning to work in the smartphone market,” he continued. “However, the tablet market is completely new. It isn t clear how others operating systems and manufacturers will play against Apple, nor is it clear how Google s open Web/open OS message will play with prosumers.”
Source: ZDNet {link no longer active}
Activision Publishing today announced that they will be publishing a game based upon the fourth Shrek film. Shrek Forever After will allow players to team up with their friends and play as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss In Boots.
Shrek Forever After, the fourth and final movie in the Shrek story arc, sees Shrek missing times when he was a real ogre and signing a deal with trickster Rumpelstiltskin. When Shrek finds he’s been duped and is put in a alternate Far Far Away where ogres are hunted, he’s never met Fiona and Rumpelstiltskin is king, he must work to save his friends and his love.
Shrek’s popularity seems to have waned in recent years and the third movie didn’t seem to live up to the quality of the previous two, so we’re curious to see how this license does for Activision.
ABC has been offering free, streaming video content via their iPad app and it’s a hit with consumers. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, ABC has revealed that the app has been downloaded 205,000 times and users have already streamed 650,000 television episodes, with the most popular being Modern Family.
ABC’s parent company Disney hopes to make additional revenue by inserting 30-second ads and links to buy episodes from iTunes. Several million ad impressions for ABC s iPad advertisers, including AT&T, Sears and Target have already been delivered, demonstrating the power of the iPad as a marketing tool and a portable video device.
Source: Mashable
Today, Broadpoint AmTech released a study exploring how web portals like Yahoo, AOL and MSN are faring in the current web environment. Tracking over the past few months shows that Yahoo is still a key brand and the YouTube has really emerged with its front page ads, while MSN has the largest amount of direct-response ads and AOL is called the most adventurous.
Telecom and media advertisers were the largest ad players with 27 percent of home page buys, and financial services followed at 14 percent. Rich media remains very popular, with nearly 93 percent of home page ads implementing it; 57 percent are using standard sizes (usually in Flash) and an increasing number (28 percent) are using expandable or oversized ads.
Source: MediaPost {link no longer active}
While some may feel that Blu-ray is the last of a dying breed of disc-based movie media, don’t tell that to the folks following the sales charts – the charts show Blu-ray sales increasing every year. Digital methods of promotion for Blu-ray might seem counter-intuitive, but the Blu-ray Association is embracing it with their Facebook page and going viral.
The most recent digital method of promoting Blu-ray is a contest where users are invited to submit their own Blu-ray commercial for a prize pack that includes Blu-ray movies and PS3 games and controllers. More details at facebook.com/BlurayUnleashed {link no longer active}.
