DOWN THE DVD ROAD ... `THE WIZARD OF OZ,' FINAL `STAR WARS' INSTALLMENT TOP SLATE OF FALL RELEASES.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

With far fewer blockbusters this summer and the home video industry's booming growth beginning to slow, will the DVD industry be left with lumps of coal in its stocking during what has typically been its most robust time of year?

Summer blockbusters like ``Spider-Man 2,'' ``Finding Nemo'' and ``Shrek 2'' have historically fueled fourth-quarter DVD sales as the discs have become one of the most popular gifts during the holiday season.

While ``Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and ``War of the Worlds,'' are blockbusters, there appear to be fewer sure things from the summer feature film front to lead retail activity.

As a result, the industry will be looking more than ever to boxed sets of television shows including ``Lost,'' ``Desperate Housewives'' and the final season of ``Friends'' as well as anniversary editions of such classics as ``The Wizard of Oz,'' ``Titanic,'' ``Cinderella'' and ``The Sound of Music'' to pump up sales.

``It will still be huge,'' predicted Ralph Tribbey, editor of DVD Release Report. ``You are talking about climbing to the top of Mount Everest then walking around up there. Whatever they did last year, even if this year's fourth quarter is 4-5 percent above, it would still be a record.''

According to the Digital Entertainment Group, sales of DVD software grew by 9.8 percent for the 12 months ending March 2005, with revenue up by $2.2 billion. But the industry is looking for ways to return to double-digit growth in order to remain robust in an age when nearly 85 percent of U.S. households will have at least one DVD player.

The various major studios are currently busy announcing fall release dates this month, although exact dates for such summer hits as ``Charlie,'' ``Worlds,'' ``Batman Begins,'' ``Madagascar,'' ``The Longest Yard'' and ``Fantastic Four'' have not yet been finalized. The market's current No. 1 film, ``Wedding Crashers,'' is not expected to be out before Christmas, New Line Home Entertainment said Thursday.

``You are going to have some pretty good tent poles every week in the mid- to late portion of the fourth quarter,'' said Kurt Indvik, editor of Home Media Retailing, an industry trade publication. ``There's a pretty good cross section of kids' movies, some action thrillers. What we are seeing is most of the studios are stockpiling their titles for the fourth quarter.''

Such box office flops as ``The Honeymooners'' and ``Lords of Dogtown'' have been given release dates, as have so-so performers ``Kicking & Screaming,'' ``The Amityville Horror'' and ``Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.''

It's not known if such big-budget bombs as ``The Island'' and ``Stealth'' will hit retail shelves before the holidays, but megaflop ``Kingdom of Heaven'' will be released Oct. 11.

While sales of new-release feature films have climbed by 12.1 percent, according to the DEG, it is TV on DVD sales that are booming, with a growth spurt of 49.5 percent over the 12-month period.

``I think studios want to make sure there is plenty of major project in the pipeline for the fourth quarter and TV is certainly playing a big role,'' Indvik said.

Gord Lacey, who runs the popular TVShowsonDVD.com Web site, said he has been receiving ``dozens of press releases every day'' with release dates for television shows.

So far, September, October and November will see DVD boxed sets of seasons of such current and old series as ``CSI: New York,'' ``Scrubs,'' ``Family Guy,'' ``Taxi,'' ``The Simpsons,'' ``Cheers,'' ``Frasier,'' ``M*A*S*H,'' ``Murder One,'' ``American Idol,'' ``Alias,'' ``Amazing Race,'' ``Veronica Mars'' and ``Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.''

For true-blue fans of television shows with some money in their wallets, there are boxed sets with all six seasons of ``Sex in the City'' and all seasons of ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' for around $300 for each set.

``They are also doing a big 'Friends' box set with all 10 seasons and these are some of the first times we have seen something like this where we are getting complete runs,'' Lacey said.

Catalog titles, which according to DEC sold nearly 31 percent more units than new-release DVDs from March 2004 to March 2005, are also coming out in droves in the months leading up to the holidays.

While blockbusters might not be as potent as in past years, Tribbey believes there are enough of them and plenty of other genres to keep the studio stockings stuffed with revenue.

``Obviously 'Star Wars' is going to be a monster and Warner Bros. probably won't have any problem with 'Batman Begins,''' Tribbey predicted. ``And consumers are going to get a 'Wizard of Oz' they've never seen before. So there will be some big hits out there. Hollywood doesn't need to look for high places to jump from.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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Down the DVD Road