Tomorrow Never Dies...
MGM Home Entertainment's "Tomorrow Never Dies" Surpasses Biggest Sell-in
Numbers Ever for Both Rental and DVD Units
05/07/98
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 1998, Business Wire)
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 1998-- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (NYSE:MGM) Thursday announced that "Tomorrow Never Dies," the latest James Bond film from its United Artists Pictures unit and Danjaq LLC, shattered all previous sales records for a home video rental title with a total of 1,171,500 pre-order units to retailers, including a record-breaking 170,000 on DVD , making it the first rental title ever to top 1 million units.
Both video and DVD releases will be available to consumers on May 12, 1998.
As part of its aggressive strategy, MGM Home Entertainment has committed the largest marketing campaign in home-video history for the 18th Bond adventure by spending more than $5 million in consumer advertising, including advertising time during the May 14 final episode of NBC's hit comedy "Seinfeld."
Additionally, a strategic partnership with Visa Card will be integral to the promotional campaign, continuing the successful tie-in that was launched with the film's theatrical release. MGM further will support the rental release by withholding the single unit sell-through for one year.
"Tomorrow Never Dies," which to date has generated more than $335 million worldwide in box-office receipts including a record $124 million in domestic sales, is the most successful theatrical release in the long-running Bond franchise. In video, approximately 13 million units of the earlier 17 James Bond titles have been sold by MGM Home Entertainment.
With these record video sales numbers, "Tomorrow Never Dies" displaces the previous record held by "The Rock," with 830,000 units booked at its pre-order date.
"The tremendous volume of video and DVD pre-orders unquestionably speaks to the durability of the James Bond franchise, as well as to the vitality of premium titles," said David Bishop, president of MGM Home Entertainment. "This is a significant milestone for MGM and the video industry. With revenue sharing becoming an important percentage of our business, we intend to support it with an unprecedented media campaign."
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