AOL Distributes Direct-To-Download Effort, Month Before DVD

And it is a Tara Reid movie, so it deserves not to get theatrical distribution. AOL is premiering Adam Shapiro‘s new horror film, “Incubus,” online for download (direct-to-download), for $7.99 ($7.99 for purchase, $3.49 for a five-day rental, no burning to a DVD) on its soon-to-be relaunched teen site, AOL Red, starting on Halloween. DVDs will go on sale a month later. Shapiro and his partner decided to go direct to download after they were unable to find a good deal for theatrical release.
Would be an interesting experiment to watch….a high-profile direct-to-download experiment on Google Video fizzled early this year, when the indie film “Waterborne” sold only a few hundred copies despite heavy promotion.
AOL’s motive is promoting its Red site….Red attracts about 4 million teens a month as part of AOL’s subscription service, but the site is moving out to the open Web at b-red.com on Oct. 17. AOL plans to promote “Incubus” on AOL Red and AOL Instant Messenger. It also struck a deal with an advertising company to begin playing the trailer in 1,400 theaters two weeks before the release.

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