Disney CEO Bob Iger’s previous comments about shortening the length of theatrical runs is starting to come to fruition.
THR has learned that Disney has asked US exhibitors to trim more than three weeks from the theatrical run of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, taking it from a traditional 16 weeks to just under 13 weeks.
The film stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and is expected to do big business on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD. By moving up its home video debut, Disney could raise their bottom line in June before the second quarter ends.
Although not mentioned in the article, there is also a slim chance that Alice in Wonderland would be used as a launch title for Blu-ray 3D adding extra incentive for Disney to promptly pull it from theaters. The only timing for the format’s debut we know currently is “summer 2010” which June more than qualifies for.
