BLOCKBUSTERS MOVING FAST VIDEO STORE OWNERS THRILLED BY SPEEDY RELEASES OF HITS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

The blockbuster films of summer will be hitting video stores in record time this fall, bringing the year's box-office champions together again just as consumers rev up their holiday purchases.

The studios are pulling out all the promotional stops as the summer's biggest hits - ``Spider-Man,'' ``Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones,'' ``Men in Black II,'' ``Austin Powers in Goldmember,'' ``Scooby-Doo'' and ``XXX'' - make a lightning-fast transition from movie theaters to living rooms.

Bo Andersen, president of the Video Software Dealers Association, said more than 20 of the upcoming home video releases have each grossed at least $50 million at the domestic box office and at least half of those have crossed the $100 million mark.

``I think this will be the most dramatic fourth quarter that there has ever been,'' Andersen said. ``It's not a glut. It's just a wealth of entertainment for consumers this quarter. There won't be a moment unfilled by great movies.''

With such a rich release slate, DVD retailers are anticipating a record sales period leading into the holiday season.

``There are highly anticipated titles coming out this holiday season, a lot of releases that were very popular in the theaters,'' said spokeswoman Donna Beadle, spokeswoman for Best Buy Co. Inc., one of the nation's leading DVD retailers. ``We do expect that popularity to translate into the retail sector.''

The landscape is so competitive that Disney is taking the unprecedented step of releasing its animated summer hit ``Lilo & Stitch'' in December - the first time the studio has ever put an animated film out on home video during the same year as its theatrical run.

``Lilo'' will compete for consumer dollars with such recent family titles as ``Ice Age,'' ``Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron,'' and ``Stuart Little 2.''

Fox Home Entertainment, which has a sure-fire top seller with the latest ``Star Wars'' film, is also putting considerable promotional effort behind the release of ``Ice Age'' so that it will not get lost amid the competition.

``There's so many big titles coming in the fourth quarter that it's like a repeat of the theatrical marketplace at the retail level,'' said Steve Feldstein, Fox vice president for corporate and marketing communications. ``This is the industry's biggest quarter ever. It's going to be a banner year for everyone - the studios and retailers.''

DreamWorks is in an uphill promotional situation with ``Spirit,'' which was a solid performer this spring - a $73.2 million box-office gross - but didn't reach ``Lilo'' or ``Ice Age'' levels. It will debut on home video in November.

``Every single week there is a major release coming out, and more volume needs to be done in that first week,'' said Kelley Avery, head of DreamWorks Home Entertainment Worldwide. ``Clearly it's an incredibly cluttered marketplace, not unlike what the studios saw at theaters this last summer.''

DreamWorks is taking a page from its hugely successful campaign for ``Shrek'' last year by putting together a multimillion-dollar campaign with such partners as M&M, Burger King, Baskin Robbins and even the U.S. Postal Service, which will have a special ``Spirit'' cancellation stamp.

Such promotion has become critical in order to drive first-week sales - the home video equivalent of a movie's opening weekend during its theatrical run - with up to 40 percent of all purchases of a title occurring right out of the gate.

``We are creating this huge campaign that is really directed to the first days,'' Avery said. ``We want to motivate people to go out the first week.''

The record year at the box office for Sony Pictures Entertainment should translate into a record home video year for the company's Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment division.

In addition to ``Spider-Man,'' ``Men in Black II'' and ``XXX,'' Columbia TriStar is set to release ``Panic Room,'' starring Jodie Foster; the Adam Sandler comedy ``Mr. Deeds''; a special two-disc version of ``Black Hawk Down''; and the family film ``Stuart Little 2.''

``It's going to be an enormous fourth quarter,'' said Benjamin S. Feingold, president of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. ``Just in North America, our business will exceed $1 billion.''

Warner Home Video boasts not only ``Scooby-Doo,'' but also solid hits including ``Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' and ``Insomnia.'' Universal Home Entertainment is releasing not only the spring blockbuster ``The Scorpion King'' during the fourth quarter, but also a two-disc special edition of ``E.T. the Extra Terrestrial'' and the ``Back to the Future'' trilogy starring Michael J. Fox.

In addition to ``Lilo,'' Disney's other major holiday releases are just as highly anticipated, although not nearly as new. ``Monsters, Inc.'' is taking the road less traveled to video store shelves, coming out in retail more than a year after wrapping up its theatrical release.

``This is going to be a huge hit for us,'' said Bob Chapek, president of Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ``We think it's going to be one of the biggest sellers of the year.''

Filmmakers not wanting to release several different versions of the DVD - ``The Lord of the Rings'' and ``Pearl Harbor,'' for example - resisted pressure to rush the release so they could complete work on the definitive two-disc special edition that has seven hours of extra material.

``Our feeling was that (multiple versions) got a little confusing for customers,'' said Pete Docter, director of ``Monsters, Inc.'' ``We all agreed that it was important to present the best we could to the audience.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, box, drawing

Photo:

``Spider-Man' - with stars Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst - will be racing into the home video market at lightning speed.

Box:

Home Video Industry

Drawing:

(color) no caption (DVD covers)

Jon Gerung/Staff Artist