From the look of it, Noel isn't exactly going to send the box office into overdrive this season, and you might or might not miss it on cable television (it'll only be shown once), but you can always get the self-destructing DVD release – which may or may not tell you something about how good the movie might be.
But the producers of Noel, according to published reports, hope their three-pronged release of the film (in a mere five major cities, on cable television, and disposable DVD) proves the public might give a pull on a rental that goes to the recycle bin after a viewing or two.
These disposable discs resemble normal DVDs but include what are known as "chemical time bombs" that start "ticking" when exposed to air – i.e., when the package is opened – slowly turning the playback surface darker until, after 48 hours, the disc is too opaque for a DVD player to read.
They haven't caught on before and may not even now, though the producers of Noel – a Christmas story featuring Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, and Penelope Cruz, which attracted almost no mainstream distribution interest when shown at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year – hope it flies otherwise as part of their triple-release strategy.
Convex Group – which owns Flexplay, the masterminds of the disposable DVD, buying the company in October – bought the rights and will release Noel to Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Chicago first, then to the DVD disposable format, known as EZ-D, at mid-month for $4.99 on Amazon, and for a single cable television airing on the TNT network Thanksgiving weekend.
Director Chazz Palminteri has been quoted as saying he hopes the disposable disc catches on through the Convex strategy, saying he thinks it's the only way to compete with big-budget Christmas movies. Convex chief executive Jeff Arnold, however, has said the EZ-D won't catch on until more studios release films using the format, people being taken more by content than by technology in his view.
The problem with the EZ-D isn't just the easy disposability – these DVDs are still prone to copying and pirating. Blockbuster Video has said it fears confusing customers if they take up the disposable DVD, preferring instead the subscription approach to video renting. "We really don't see the idea going anywhere, ultimately," Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove told reporters about the EZ-D.
