Blockbuster To Buy Independent Films
ent here is planning to buy the rights to about 50 new independent films, according to spokeswoman Karen Raskopf. Most will come from the Showtime cable movie network, which is another division of parent company Viacom, New York.
Blockbuster will have the exclusive rights to the films for a certain length of time, which was not disclosed, but will not finance the movies.
Blockbuster has already bought the video rental rights for two movies, "Lesser Prophets" with John Turturro, and "Color of Justice" with F. Murray Abraham, which will carry the Blockbuster brand.
Meanwhile, Blockbuster has completed the purchase of 69 stores from Trient Partners, which had the franchise for Blockbuster Video stores in Seattle and Portland, Ore.
Search Committee Formed by VSDA
ENCINO, Calif. -- The Video Software Dealers Association here has formed a search committee to select a new top executive to succeed Jeffrey Eves, who resigned as president this month. Eves and Mark Vrieling, VSDA chairman, will assist the committee.
The committee will be co-chaired by John Antioco, chairman and chief executive officer of Blockbuster Entertainment, Dallas, and Tom Warren, president of Video Hut, Fayetteville, N.C.
Also serving on the committee will be David Ingram, president of Ingram Entertainment, LaVergne, Tenn.; John Marmaduke, president and CEO of Hastings Entertainment, Amarillo, Texas; John Nucifora, owner of Chimney's Video Superstore, Cicero, N.Y.; Monty Winters, owner of Club Vid Movie Superstore, Archdale, N.C.; and former VSDA chairman Gary Ross, president of Musicland Group's Superstore division, Minnetonka, Minn.
Top 10 Supermarket Video Rental Titles
Last
Rank Wk Title (Wks Out)
Lethal Weapon 4 (4)
1 1 Warner $107.37
Out of Sight (1)
2 N Universal $107.37
Blade (3)
3 2 New Line $107.37
Dr. Dolittle (7)
4 3 Fox $19.98
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1)
5 N Fox $104.16
Six Days, Seven Nights (5)
6 4 Buena Vista $107.37
The Mask of Zorro (6)
7 6 Columbia TriStar $22.95
The Negotiator (7)
8 7 Warner $107.37
Halloween H20 (4)
9 8 Buena Vista $107.37
Small Soldiers (9)
10 9 DreamWorks $22.99
N=New Week ended JAN. 10
This chart, 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.
