Soderbergh to Direct 6 High-Definition Films

[Brian in Mesa]

Soderbergh to Direct 6 High-Definition Films
Source: Variety
April 29, 2005

Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban's HDNet Films has hired Steven Soderbergh to direct six high-definition films that would be released simultaneously in theaters, on TV and on video.

Variety says the first project in production is Bubble, a murder mystery set in a small Ohio town. Soderbergh retains creative control on this and subsequent HDNet projects.

All films will receive theatrical distribution through Magnolia Pictures at Landmark Theaters venues. TV distribution will go through 2929's high-definition cable channel HDNet Movies. DVD and international distribution have not yet been determined.

 

[Chaplin]

They'll get theatrical distribution, but probably not in any more than 200 theaters or so. No big chain is going to want to invest the space on a new movie that's already on DVD.

 

[mdamien13]

Soderbergh is my favorite director but this move is just weird. I'm not questioning the movie at all (which is going to utilize non-professional actors from the town they're filming in for a lot of roles), but what's the point of releasing something theatrically, to video, and on TV at the same time? You're putting someone in a position to lose money.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Hmmm...what a dilemma...do I go to the theater to see it, stay home and watch it for free on tv, or buy/rent it at the store?

Very odd.

:writesitofftoCubanbeinginvolved:

 

[Brian in Mesa]

It's not Soderbergh, but it is HDNet...going to be released simultaneously in theaters, on home video/dvd and on cable...


Diggers Get the Green Light
Source: Variety
August 10, 2005

HDNet Films (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) has greenlit the period piece Diggers, starring Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Josh Hamilton, Ron Eldard, Maura Tierney, Lauren Ambrose and Sarah Paulson.

The film was written by Marino and will be directed by Katherine Dieckmann (A Good Baby).

The plot concerns two generations of hard-living clam diggers trying to maintain their way of life in the midst of enormous changes in the Hamptons during the 1970s.

The film will be distributed simultaneously in theatrical, home video and cable markets through Magnolia Pictures, Landmark Theaters and the HDNet Movies network.