How the DVD and Blu-ray market is facing a very tricky winter

"It’s no secret that the last three months of the year are by distance the most lucrative for home entertainment sales, when the gifting market is in full flow. As such, studios over the past years have made sure that their core titles are pretty much all out by the end of October (the biggest film of last year, Avengers: Endgame, was on sale on disc by the end of August, giving it a four month run-up to Christmas). Here, in the best case scenario, the first big new disc release won’t be until mid-November. Something like Wonder Woman 84, now due in cinemas at the start of October, won’t under the existing agreement be able to be released on disc in the UK until January 1st 2021. And by then, most of us have put our credit cards away. Add in the impact of a global recession expected to take a firm grip, and it’s all a bit melancholy." [Film Stories]