Foreign Video Sales are Hollywood’s New Cash Cow

“By most estimates and anecdotal evidence, revenues from international home video sales are the fastest-growing part of Hollywood’s business. The most reliable estimate comes from Screen Digest, a British data company, which calculated that the home video divisions of the United States studios garnered $11.4 billion in wholesale revenues from the $24.6 billion that overseas consumers spent buying and renting home video products in 2004. What is more certain is that the windfall from overseas home video sales is affecting how the movie business is run. It is inflating budgets for films with big international potential.”