'Liar Liar' Sales Are
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PITTSBURGH -- Although stocked in great depth, all rental copies of the sell-through priced "Liar Liar" went out early in Giant Eagle video departments visited by SN on the title's street date Sept. 30. The eight large Iggle Entertainment departments, located in Ohio and the greater Pittsburgh area, carried between 80 and 120 copies of the title,
Most stores also stocked the Universal Studios Home Video title for sale in the video rental department, promoted at $14.99, just above the $14.95 minimum advertised price. "Liar Liar" has a suggested retail price of $22.98. The sell-through copies did not appear to be moving as fast as the rental units on the street date, although one store employee said he expected that to change on the weekend when demand for the movie would be so high that more people would decide to buy it. Giant Eagle executives here declined comment.
Most stores merchandised both rental and sell-through selections aggressively, using point-of-purchase materials from the Universal City, Calif.-based studio. Generally, the title occupied an entire 4-foot section on the new release wall. One department in West Mifflin, Pa., mixed in other Jim Carrey titles with "Liar Liar."
Rentrak to Offer
Retailers Internet
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Rentrak will provide retailers using its pay-per-transaction service with interactive home pages on the Internet. Subscribing retailers can select from predesigned web pages or create their own.
The pages will also use the Clair V Movie Mindreader technology of Entertainment Decisions, Evanston, Ill., to make recommendations to customers based on their preferences. Customers will also be able to print promotional coupons tied to the Clair V recommendations.
Columbia Slates
November Titles
CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Columbia TriStar Home Video here will release "A Chef in Love" and "Rough Magic" Nov. 18. Order date for the two movies is Oct. 28.
"A Chef in Love" was a 1996 nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. "Rough Magic" is a murder mystery.
Top 10 Supermarket Video Rental Titles
Title (Weeks Out) Studio Retail Last Week
1Liar Liar (1 MCA 22.98 New
2Volcano (1) Fox $103.91 New
3The Saint (2) Paramount $103.91 1
4The English Patient (1) Miramax $107.11 New
5Dante's Peak (6) MCA $103.91 3
6The Devil's Own (7) Columbia $105.51 4
7Jungle 2 Jungle (9) Disney $22.99 2
8Murder at 1600 (8) Warner $103.91 5
9McHale's Navy (3) MCA $103.91 7
10Sleeping Beauty (2) Disney $26.99 10
The chart on this page, tailored for the supermarket video market, is based on information taken from more than 1,000 supermarket rental locations serviced by Ingram Entertainment, La Vergne, Tenn.
