question: Why do studios put a gap between a movie leaving theaters and being released on DVD?
comment: It’s called “windowing” and is actually a key aspect of how they make money. The most money is made in the theaters, so they need to create additional incentive to see it there. Additionally that’s how theaters make money too! So they have a large incentive to make sure that you see it in the theaters or you r got to pay a “price” in time waiting for it to show up elsewhere. They hope that will incentivize people to see movies and theatre—and they’re right. It does. This is mostly “solved” math, although the windowing is gradually changing (meaning getting shorter) as the audience needs changes and new platforms and styles of watching emerge. But it’s changing slowly, because these companies know their business and how to make max profit.
passages: Feature films that have been released directly to YouTube or other streaming sites include "Home" (2009), "The Cult of Sincerity" (2008), "Life in a Day" (2011), "" (2012) and "" (2007).
  
  Section::::Film release.:Shrinking of the theatrical window.
  
  While originally conceived for a six months duration, the theatrical window has today been reduced to an average of four weeks. Major movie studios have reportedly been pushing to shrink the duration of the theatrical window in an attempt to make up for the substantial losses in the DVD market they've been suffering from since the 2004 sales peak.
   Hollywood won't know the impact of simultaneous release until a studio tries it with a big-budget movie, such as a Star Wars sequel. But those movies do very well in the current window system, so it is unlikely that Warner Bros. would take a chance with one of them. What is likely to be seen instead is a further narrowing of the time between theatrical and DVD releases. That makes cinema owners nervous too, but not as much as simultaneous release.
  
  Section::::History.
   Other strategies are also being deployed in order to make up for slow DVD sales. Most major studios have considered making movies available to VOD services shortly after their theatrical release for a premium price. In July 2010 Netflix secured a deal with Relativity Media in which the latter agreed to distribute a number of major movies to the aforementioned VOD service before Pay TV.
   A straight to video (or straight-to-DVD or straight-to-Blu-ray depending on the media upon which the movie is made available) release occurs when a movie is released on home video formats (such as VHS, DVD, etc.) without being released in theaters first, thereby not taking into consideration the "theatrical window".
  
  As a result of strong DVD sales, Direct-to-video releases also achieved higher success and have become a profitable market lately, especially for independent moviemakers and companies.
  
  Section::::Film release.:Internet release.
   The standard release routine for a movie is regulated by a business model called "release windows". The release windows system was first conceived in the early 1980s, on the brink of the VHS home video market, as a strategy to keep different instances of a movie from competing with each other, allowing the movie to take advantage of different markets (cinema, home video, TV, etc.) at different times.
  
  In the standard process, a movie is first released through movie theaters (theatrical window), then, after approximately 16 and one-half weeks,
   Nonetheless, the self-distribution strategy led several major motion picture companies to express interest in releasing the film on DVD. Paramount Pictures won the right to do so, and released the DVD in North America on May 5, 2009.
  
  A sequel, "A Plumm Summer Adventure," and possibly a third "Plumm" movie were planned.
  
  Section::::Critical reception.
   Initially, the film was to be released domestically on August 27, 2010, amid weak reviews, but Warner Bros. decided to push back the release date one week to September 3. This meant its opening weekend would coincide with the Labor Day weekend. Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Domestic Distribution President, stated that "moving to the Labor Day weekend not only allows us to take advantage of the long holiday weekend, but gives us some distance from the other female-driven films releasing in August." Eventually, "Going the Distance"′s earliest release was on September 2, 2010, in eight countries including Australia, Argentina and Germany, one day before its North American release.
   Some theater chains threatened not to screen the film at all when distributor 20th Century Fox announced plans to rush it to VHS and DVD a mere six weeks after its opening weekend, but Fox ultimately relented and pushed the release date back a number of months. After underperforming its first weekend, Fox reinstated the original release schedule and the film was released via VHS and DVD on August 26, 2003.
  
  Section::::Release.:Box office.
   In July 2005, UK / US micro budget indie "EMR" directed by James Erskine & Danny McCullough became the first simultaneous release, released theatrically, to DVD and to the Internet all on the same day. Producer John Lentaigne said: "The filmmakers believe that the choice as to how consumers view films should rest with the consumer and that theatrical, DVD and Internet forms of distribution need not threaten each other, and may indeed be mutually complimentary .”
   Andy Whittaker of Dogwoof Pictures stated that simultaneous releasing is a natural step for independent movies. This is the only way that entrepreneurs and independents stand a chance to have a shot in an industry run by the studios.
  
  Staggering the release of each movie between the various release formats has been a cash cow for many years, and it might not be easy to dislodge that model because it is also very lucrative. 
   This release strategy's chief advantage to consumers is that consumers may choose how and where they will watch the movie. 
  
  A key financial benefit for distributors promoting independent movies that have smaller budgets is that they need only spend on one marketing campaign, rather than separate campaigns for each release window.
   Radius-TWC announced a release date in the United States of February 13, 2015, simultaneously releasing it in select theatres and on VOD. It was previously set for release in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2014, but was later pushed back to February 6, in line with its US release. Icon Film Distribution then pushed the release date back indefinitely, and they have not yet announced a new date.
  
  Section::::Release.:Box office.
   In January 2006, "Bubble", directed by Steven Soderbergh, followed with a larger near-simultaneous release to cinema and cable television, followed days later by DVD. This experiment was notable as it was helmed by a director of the caliber of Academy Award winner Soderbergh. 
  
  In March 2006 "The Road to Guantanamo", directed by Michael Winterbottom, was shown theatrically simultaneously with television and internet download.
  
  Section::::Companies.
  
  The companies piloting the simultaneous release model are Magnolia Pictures and Dogwoof Pictures. 
  
  Section::::Companies.:Films Released Simultaneously.
  
  Films Released Theatrically and on other channels simultaneously include:
  
  BULLET::::- "EMR" (2005)
  
  BULLET::::- "Bubble" (2006)
   The film's release date and release pattern became the subject of some media and public discussion. The film had been originally scheduled for release in 2006. The release was postponed as the editing process became extended and internal disputes arose. The film was subsequently scheduled for a wide release on approximately 1000 US screens on September 28, 2007. In early September 2007, Sony announced that the release would be brought forward to September 14, 2007, with a "platform release" pattern starting on a small number of screens—with additional screens to be added in subsequent weeks.
   The initial theatrical release was deliberately small-scale, most likely undertaken to ensure that "Going Clear" met the eligibility criteria for an Oscar nomination. Due to continuing public demand, HBO announced in July 2015 that it would be releasing the film more widely from September 25 through the ArcLight Cinemas chain's theaters in California, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York City, Texas and a few other locations around the US.
   Opponents of simultaneous release on other grounds include director M. Night Shyamalan, who believes movies will lose their "magic" if they don't play in cinemas. Shyamalan calls simultaneous release "heartless and soulless and disrespectful." The sentiment was echoed by Peter Brown, the chief executive of AMC Entertainment, who claimed that reducing films to direct-to-video products would amount to "crass commercialism." Exhibitors are especially frightened of this development, as many feared that they would eventually lose their exclusive release windows for more mainstream films such as Star Wars. 
   On January 5, 2008, New Line Cinema announced, as did its parent company's own film studio, Warner Bros., that it would exclusively support Blu-ray for their films and drop support of HD DVD. The only New Line Home Entertainment HD DVD ever released was "Pan's Labyrinth".
   These attempts have encountered the firm opposition of theater owners, whose profits depend solely upon attendance and therefore benefit from keeping a movie available on their screens.
  
  In early 2010, Disney announced it would be putting out the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" 14 weeks after the movie's release date (instead of the then usual 17) in order to avoid competition from the 2010 World Cup. In response to such statements, theater owners made threats not to show the movie on their screens, but later reconsidered their position before the movie was released.
   Simultaneous release
  
  Simultaneous release is the name given to an experimental new method of making movies available to consumers. 
  
  Traditionally, movies are released first in cinemas. A DVD release follows some months later. Later still the movie is released through pay-per-view television; then premium cable networks; and finally free-to-air television. This staggered release schedule gives each distribution channel an exclusive "window" in which to profit from the movie. 
  
  Simultaneous releasing of a movie removes these windows: the movie is released to cinemas and other channels such as DVD, internet and television, on or around the same date.
   Kelly has claimed on his MySpace blog that he had very little time for the DVD as he was starting shooting on his next feature, "The Box". However, he has stated several times that if Sony commissioned one (based on the sales of the current DVD), he would happily be involved in a "Director's Cut" DVD in the future with more special features and deleted scenes from the Cannes cut.
   On February 19, 2008, Toshiba announced it would cease developing, manufacturing and marketing HD DVD players and recorders. On that same day, Universal Studios announced it would release its titles in the Blu-ray Disc format, following two years of exclusive HD DVD support. The studio subsequently released its final two HD DVD titles: "Fletch" on March 11, 2008 and "Atonement" on March 18. On February 20, 2008, Paramount Pictures announced it would back Blu-ray, becoming the last of the major studios to do so. Paramount ceased HD DVD production on February 28, 2008, with "Things We Lost in the Fire" and "Into the Wild" becoming the studio's last HD DVD releases, both released on March 4, 2008. The studio scrapped the HD DVD version of "Bee Movie", which, on May 20, 2008, joined "Face/Off" and "Next" in becoming the studio's first Blu-ray releases since becoming HD DVD exclusive. In April 2009, Warner Home Video announced it would trade up to 25 HD DVDs for the Blu-ray equivalents, charging only for shipping and handling.
   The chief opposition to simultaneous release comes from cinema owners who expect to be disadvantaged financially from the loss of their exclusive windows. Commenting on simultaneous release in January 2006, John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, said "It's the biggest threat to the viability of the cinema industry today."
   Producers of relatively smaller-budget movies are also utilizing new release strategies. In 2009, the movie "The House of the Devil" premiered on VOD systems on October 1, and received a limited theatrical release one month later. In August 2010, it was announced that the movie "Freakonomics" would be released on video on demand on September 3, one month before its theatrical release. The British sci-fi movie "Monsters" has also undergone the same release timetable. After Netflix bought the worldwide distribution rights to "Beasts of No Nation", the film was simultaneously released theatrically and online through its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service on October 16, 2015.
   Since the advent of home video in the early 1980s, most major films have followed a pattern of having several distinct release windows. A film may first be released to a few select cinemas, or if it tests well enough, may go directly into wide release. Next, it is released, normally at different times several weeks (or months) apart, into different market segments like rental, retail, pay-per-view, in-flight entertainment, cable, satellite, or free-to-air broadcast television. The distribution rights for the film are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits and manage losses.
   Cinema owners can be affected seriously in case they have to share their opportunity window, specially at the beginning of the movie lifecycle, since, according to Disney, about 95% of all box office tickets for a film are sold within the first six weeks after initial distribution.
  
  Among relevant simultaneous release attempts are "Bubble" (2006) by Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh, "EMR" (2005) by James Erskine & Danny McCullough, and "The Road to Guantanamo" (2006).
  
  Section::::Film release.:Straight-to-video release.
  