Burton’s Alice Faces Limited Release In Holland
By WENNTuesday, February 16, 2010
TIM BURTON’s fantasy film ALICE IN WONDERLAND is facing a boycott from cinema bosses in Holland over plans to release the movie on DVD just three months after it hits theatres.
The Disney production, which stars Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, is due to open in the country on 10 March (10) - but Dutch cinema owners are refusing to show the film amid fears they will lose out on big box office bucks because fans will opt to wait for the early DVD release.
Youry Bredewold, a spokesman for the National Board of Cinema Owners, says, “The four big cinema houses, Minerva, Pathe, Wolff and Jogchems - representing between 80 and 85 percent of all cinemas in the Netherlands - have decided not to show the film.
“Disney is not keeping its part of the bargain. There is an agreement between movie distributors and cinema owners that there must be a window of at least four months between the cinema release and the DVD release.”
Bredewold admits the movie theatres will lose out by snubbing the highly-anticipated release altogether, but insists it’s the principle that counts.
He adds, “We will lose money due to our decision; we expected this to become one of the most popular movies of 2010. But we decided we need to send a message to the whole industry: if you don’t accept our terms we will never show your movies again.”
