Pre-Order "Muppets Most Wanted" Blu-ray available August 12

[jvcarroll]

Amazon Takes the Muppets Off the Shelf​

By DAVID STREITFELD AUGUST 9, 2014

Amazon is refusing to allow orders for physical copies of forthcoming releases from yet another media company.

The supplier in the cross hairs this time is Disney. Amazon customers are unable to buy DVDs or Blu-rays of movies like “Muppets Most Wanted” that are coming out in the next few months. Instead, they can sign up to be notified when the movies become available or preorder the Amazon Instant Video.

In at least one case, there seems to be no product page at all for the physical copy of the movie. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is available for preorder as an Amazon Instant Video, but neither a Blu-ray disc nor a DVD is offered.

Preorders are a way for an entertainment company to gauge demand. Consumers have increasingly been trained to want something the moment it becomes available, so if they do not have the ability to order ahead, the companies worry, the customer will not buy a product when it hits the market.

Eliminating the preorder button is thus a potent weapon for Amazon. It declined to take orders for Warner Home Video for several weeks at the beginning of the summer. And it has been engaged in a pitched battle with Hachette for months, causing some of the publisher’s authors to see their sales on the site drop by half.

Disney did not return calls for comment. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment, but in the past the company has stressed that disputes with suppliers were routine for retailers.

They certainly are becoming that way at Amazon. One theory is that the company, always a tough negotiator, is losing so much money that it is trying to get an edge anywhere it possibly can. Amazon says it could lose more than $800 million this quarter.

The conflict with Disney was first reported by HomeMediaMagazine.com.

​

 

[Muppet Master]

"Fight Fight" - .

 

[D'Snowth]

I know! Other companies at least give DVDs something more than one lousy music video. Maybe they could have had "Rizzo's Biggest Fan" as well on the DVD, that would have evened it out.

Well unfortunately, since Bluray is like, "The thing," now, many companies are pulling this kind of stunt because they're trying to make DVD obsolete... Disney's just one of the biggest and worst offenders of this.

 

[AKaun6899]

Well unfortunately, since Bluray is like, "The thing," now, many companies are pulling this kind of stunt because they're trying to make DVD obsolete... Disney's just one of the biggest and worst offenders of this.

Similarly, recent DVDs by Paramount completely do away with bonus features, making all of them exclusive to the Blu-rays!

 

[jvcarroll]

Well unfortunately, since Bluray is like, "The thing," now, many companies are pulling this kind of stunt because they're trying to make DVD obsolete... Disney's just one of the biggest and worst offenders of this.

Did you read the article? It's AMAZON that's doing this. Disney wants fans to buy all platforms of this product. Amazon is screwing Disney, Muppets Most Wanted and Captain America 2. By not listing pre-orders on it's site, it jeopardizes the releases' standing on the home video chart and thus poisons sales numbers.

My guess is that something will be hammered out before the release of that Marvel film. It is the top grossing film this year so far. I'm sure Amazon wants a piece of that pie. However, they're hosing the Muppets to get there. None of this is Disney's doing. They're just the latest company being extorted by Amazon. Warner Brothers got it earlier this year.

 

[Oscarfan]

Did you read the article? It's AMAZON that's doing this. Disney wants fans to buy all platforms of this product. Amazon is screwing Disney, Muppets Most Wanted and Captain America 2. By not listing pre-orders on it's site, it jeopardizes the releases' standing on the home video chart and thus poisons sales numbers.

My guess is that something will be hammered out before the release of that Marvel film. It is the top grossing film this year so far. I'm sure Amazon wants a piece of that pie. However, they're hosing the Muppets to get there. None of this is Disney's doing. They're just the latest company being extorted by Amazon. Warner Brothers got it earlier this year.

He was referring to bonus features, not the whole Amazon kerfuffle.

 

[jvcarroll]

He was referring to bonus features, not the whole Amazon kerfuffle.

EDIT:

Due to my Ignore Features, it seemed to me he had replied right after my post (in reference to it) and completely confused the issue with another one. We've had that discussion many, many, many, many, many times over and I certainly understand the ire, but Amazon is hosing the Muppets, Disney and Marvel that's pretty awful.

The story here is that Amazon is by far the top online retailer for DVD and Blu-ray content. They are manipulating sales by selectively disallowing preorders from their site and this will harm the standing of Muppets Most Wanted among other Disney releases.

Sure, other sites sell the same product, but there will be some significant fall-off from Amazon users who are casual fans and don't see the release popping up as an option for DVD/Blu-ray sale. Many will likely think if Amazon isn't offering it that it must not be out yet.

Amazon is a bully and that sucks. I'll now be taking my home video sales elsewhere.

 

[jvcarroll]

He was referring to bonus features, not the whole Amazon kerfuffle.

However, in response to the DVD special features. Loading such features onto a disc would either reduce the quality of the movie image in compression or add expense to the release by creating the need for an additional disc or double-sided burning. It seems that Disney has prematurely relegated DVD to the VHS graveyard. Personally, I'd have released all the features on the DVD no matter how much the compression compromised the DVD quality. If Disney wants to encourage Blu-ray sales, they should make the prices the same for both formats. The quality alone will cause most people (not all) to transition to the superior technology.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

Thanks again for breaking our balls once again Disney by excluding pretty much all of the bonus features from the DVD edition to the Bluray edition.

You should not be surprised at this news.

As for Amazon all I can say is "what the fudge?!!"

 

[DarthGonzo]

Blu-ray/DVD review from DVDizzy.com

http://www.dvdizzy.com/muppetsmostwanted.html