Taking a page from the Disney handbook, Warner Bros. announced that they will stop shipping all the Harry Potter films on December 29, 2011 – less than two months after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and the 8-film collection on November 11.
Marketing ploy? Sure. But is Warner Bros. sacrificing long-term sales for a blockbuster holiday season? Or will we see the next release just in time for the 2012 holidays? One interesting sign of the times – the moratorium will not include digital methods of delivery.
I never understood this technique. Understand the concept of creating a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage purchasing, but I just don’t see how that actually works with DVDs. Sure, you might get a big push before they go “in the vault” but why wouldn’t you want your product on the shelves all of the time?
I agree, Matt. From what I’ve heard, they will still release an Ultimate Editions set of the entire series sometime next year. Which is all I care about at this point.