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Ga'Hoole set for limited US cinema release

Alice in Wonderland will have a shorter cinema release, setting a trend in the US marketFollowing Disney’s lead, Warner will cut short the theatrical release of Guardians of Ga’Hoole in the US, to allow the film to be available on DVD and Blu-ray in time for Christmas.

The move follows Disney’s announcement that Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland will have a cinema run of only 89 days to ensure the title is available for purchase during the American summer. A spokesperson for Disney in Australia told Encore that it is still unclear whether the distributor will follow a similar strategy in this territory when the title is released on March 5.

Guardians of Ga’Hoole is a collaborative effort between Animal Logic, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow, and will be released in the US on September 24.  Warner wants to reduce its theatrical window to 86 days.

US retailers have embraced the trend, but American exhibitors are in discussions with the studios, asking that these reduced windows are only applied to two films a year instead of their entire slate.

Some reports indicate that certain exhibitors are contemplating boycotting these releases because, at a time where 3D films are becoming big money magnets, the reduced window would see them miss out on a month of potential box office business.

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