Dish Offers 'Resident' VOD Same Day as Theatrical Release

15 Feb, 2011 By: Erik Gruenwedel

Dish Networks Feb. 15 said it will offer thriller The Resident, starring two-time Oscar winner Hillary Swank, on transactional video-on-demand the same day it is offered in limited theatrical release nationwide.

The movie will be available Feb. 18 to 25 to Dish subscribers for $5.99 in high definition and $4.99 in standard definition. It will be released March 29 on disc in the United States by Image Entertainment, which also is the theatrical distributor. Resident was released Feb. 10 on DVD and Blu-ray in Germany.

The move by the Englewood, Colo.-based satellite TV operator marks one of the first efforts to expedite a movie into the home entertainment market simultaneously with the theatrical launch.

Studios such as Warner Bros. and Fox have said they would release select tiles in the nascent premium VOD window by the second quarter. Premium VOD is designed to offer major movie releases four to eight weeks after the theatrical launch. The new release window is gaining momentum as theatrical revenue and attendance lag 25% from the same period last year.

The Resident features Swank as a young doctor who begins a new life after separating from her husband. Her spacious loft apartment in Brooklyn, New York, seems too good to be true and when mysterious occurrences lead her to believe she’s not alone. The movie co-stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan ("Grey's Anatomy" and Watchmen) and Christopher Lee (Lord of the Rings and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

“We’re thrilled to deliver The Resident in HD on the same day it’s available in theaters,” said Dave Shull, SVP of programming for Dish Network. “Not only do we offer movies simultaneously with the theatrical release, but also we give our customers access to a huge library of movies available 28 days before Netflix and Redbox, as well as on the same day or prior to DVD release.”