Alice in Wonderland Premieres in London Despite Boycott Threats

The public has been anticipating the release of the new Alice in Wonderland which reunites Director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp. Depp gets to play the entirely mad Mad Hatter with glee. We get a fantastical, whimsical, outrageous interpretation of an old story that is certainly different but hugely entertaining. Helena Bonham Carter lets loose all her energy into a manic Red Queen.

A gala London premiere was enjoyed by cast, fans, friends and paparazzi on Thursday, February 25th, although it was pouring rain. The film will premiere in the United States and world-wide on March 5 and is expected to do extremely well in both the domestic and the international markets.

However, in the increasingly complex market of film, especially with solid international interest, there is a huge amount of jostling and squabbling behind the scenes. US distributors understand and still bow, for the most part, to the power of The Mouse. But overseas distributors are no longer afraid of Disney and many refuse to play be their exclusive rules.

Disney planned to release the 3D mega movie early on DVD (only three months from its theatrical release rather than the standard four). This time lag is called the "window". Years ago when I was the manager of a video sales store, "windows" were much longer - often a year or more - so that the film rental business could enjoy a certain profit for a time. And the purchase price was kept outrageously high.

Due to many changes within the industry in the past few years, the "window" kept shrinking. But due to Disney's plan for such an early DVD release, one of the international exhibitors, the fourth largest Dutch firm, announced they would boycott the film if the standard "window" release time was not adhered to. Even some top England and Italian exhibitors were threatening to not open "Alice" in their theaters on the official March 5 release date due to Disney's change from the standard.

The idea of a simultaneous release date world-wide is not new anymore. The point is to discourage pirated copies from making it to the Internet before the film has been released theatrically everywhere. U.S. exhibitors understand the need for flexibility in a tough marketplace and also fear rampant piracy.

So the growing uproar over "Alice" in foreign markets could put U.S. theater owners in a tough position. if Disney relents on terms with foreign exhibitors, domestic theater owners could want new deals as well. And that would be opening a can of worms Disney does not want to deal with. Disney had already told exhibitors it would like to shorten the theatrical-to-DVD window to under 90 days on two titles a year. "Alice" is the first.

The Dutch exhibitors represent between 80% and 85% of all theaters in the Netherlands. There has been much number crunching and discussion in the few frantic days left up to February 25th. Miraculously, an agreement seems to have been reached at the 11th hour as the February 25 London premiere went on as scheduled.

Last week, Disney dispatched top execs Bob Chapek and Chuck Viane to London to meet with British theater owners upset over the "Alice" contract. The three theater groups met with represent 60% of screens in the U.K. and more than 90% of 3D screens. ("Alice" will be release in 2D and 3D at the same time).

Obviously, the well-trained diplomatic execs managed an agreement with the British. Some American studio execs don't think US distributors will be swayed by what happens in overseas markets. But time will tell on that front.

Meanwhile, it appears that audiences world-wide will be treated to the eccentric "Alice in Wonderland" as conceived by Burton, and theater owners will enjoy a great spring addition to their cash flow.