Over at Cinematical
Ryan Stewart rounds up some Darren Aronofsky news including word of his new script (
Noah's Ark) and a link to the director's
MySpace page where he blogs about his fight to release a bonus-packed DVD of
The Fountain.
From the blog:
so the dvd came out.
happy that it is in the world.
hope more folks will get to see it.
as many of you can tell it is light on the extras as compared to my previous dvd releases.
everything at the studio was a struggle.
for instance: they didn't want to do a commentary track cause they felt that it wouldn't help sales.
i didn't have it in me to fight anymore.
whatever.
so:
niko, my friend who did the doc on the dvd came up with a novel idea.
we recorded a commentary track ourselves.
we're gonna post it on a site soon, http coming soon.
you can play it and watch the flick and hopefully you'll enjoy it.
It's dispiriting when a director with the stature of Aronofsky can't get his studio to agree to putting some coin into decent DVD extras. As a producer, I've been involved with a number of DVDs where the extras have been added solely at the producer or director's expense. The studios just don't seem to care about spending any extra money on a film that may not have been a big hit when it comes to DVD extras. I'm convinced, though, that DVD buyers look for these extras when they are shopping for a DVD.
Anyway, I do think downloadable commentary tracks that you can play along with the movie (kinda like playing
Dark Side of the Moon alongside
The Wizard of Oz) are the wave of the future.
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 5/31/2007 06:58:00 PM
Comments (2)
I'm convinced, though, that DVD buyers look for these extras when they are shopping for a DVD.
Particularly with someone like Aronofsky. If you're a fan of his who didn't even like The Fountain, you'll buy/rent the DVD anyway for the commentary.
I've bought/rented DVD's that I otherwise wouldn't have for the commentary tracks alone, Donnie Darko being a recent example. Literally the only reason I shelled out money for it was for the commentary, I wouldn't have bothered otherwise.
#
posted by @ 6/01/2007 6:23 AM
In fact one of the reasons I have not yet picked up the DVD was because it DIDN'T have a commentary track.
For a film as rich and complex as The Fountain hearing Aronofsky talk the audience through would have been a treat.
Look forward to the post!
#
posted by Benjamin Crossley-Marra @ 6/01/2007 3:09 PM
