Update: “Nice Guy Johnny”

Following up on this post from Wednesday, the day Ed Burns’ new movie Nice Guy Johnny was released on iTunes, DVD, and VOD, there’s this IndieWire article. Here’s how the article ends:

Burns is no stranger to being creative when it comes to finding an audience for his films. With his last feature, “Purple Violets,” he made headlines as the first director to launch a film exclusively on iTunes. In an effort to retain his good standing with the platform, Burns agreed to release “Johnny” in a similar way, but took it a step further, by collapsing the DVD window, and having the film screen on VOD simultaneously.

“The biggest key is that we didn’t sell the movie,” Burns said, “we just licensed it. We still own the copyright, and that’s the key to the whole thing. That’s unheard of in the movie business.”

When asked if he will ever consider releasing another film of his theatrically, Burns said the prospect is unlikely.

“Everybody wants creative control,” he said. “Only now have we figured out how to distribute movies to the audience with complete creative control as well.

“If the goal for a given filmmaker is to make enough money to pay the bills and make another movie, then I would encourage a similar approach.”

He still owns the copyright. That’s huge. The movie is featured on the front page of the iTunes movie page. Here is the pricing structure for content platforms:

HD Movie: $19.99

Rent HD Movie: $4.99

Buy Movie: $14.99

Rent Movie: $3.99

Currently #7 on their list of movie rentals.

If anybody finds out any actual dollar amounts for revenue, please post in comments.

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