Warner has decided to launch a line of direct-to-DVD movies. No stopping at the theatre, no passing go. They're planning to launch some 10-15 of these low budget titles a year. That's more than one of these things a month!

There are already a great deal of straight-to-DVD groups. To stand out, Warner is looking to make prequels and sequels to movies that Warner has already made. This way, Warner reasons, a prebuilt audience will be waiting out there for these straight to DVD movies. One of the very first will be a sequel to The Dukes of Hazzard.

One of the thoughts behind this is that it will be easier to obtain profits without the considerable marketing expense of a theatre release. But really, the reason you put out straight to film releases is that you hope one of them is quirky enough, indy enough, or surprisingly good enough, that it takes off. Word of mouth will spread, and you'll make a mint off a cheaply made film. But will a cheap once-a-month DVD really do anything more than take up real estate on already cluttered shelves? These films, in throwing us a few bones, sadly seem as if are already set up for failure.

[photo credit CathyK]