Customers can now access a new Blair Witch video clip, pre-order the video, and purchase Blair Witch merchandise
SEATTLE, September 1, 1999-Amazon.com, the No. 1 video retailer on the Internet, announced today it will feature "newly discovered" film footage belonging to the filmmakers of The Blair Witch Project, an Artisan Entertainment release. Featuring a live video stream launching today, Amazon.com will host a complete Blair Witch Project area at www.amazon.com/blairwitch featuring the highly anticipated clip along with opportunities to pre-order the video and discover other Blair Witch memorabilia on sale and for auction at Amazon.com Auctions.
Continuing Amazon.com's reputation for cutting-edge technology, the Blair Witch footage marks the first-ever live video stream for the Video Store. Featuring footage not included in the theatrical release or in the upcoming home-video version, Amazon.com will be the only place online for visitors to access this piece of film history.
"The success of The Blair Witch Project opened the industry's eyes to the impact the Internet can have on Hollywood," said Jason Kilar, group product manager, Amazon.com Video Store. "We are thrilled that Artisan is continuing this commitment by giving us exclusive online rights to this footage. It is only fitting that a film that gained much of its massive popularity through the Web is now offering this exclusive footage via the Internet at Amazon.com."
"We are excited to work with Amazon.com to bring this exclusive online footage to Blair Witch fans through the power of the Internet," said Steve Beeks, president, Artisan Home Entertainment.
The Blair Witch Project area will be housed exclusively on Amazon.com from September 1 through the end of the year. Amazon.com visitors can view the footage using RealPlayer software. Visitors without RealPlayer can click to download the software for viewing.
With the Amazon.com Blair Witch area launching seven weeks before the film debuts on video, Amazon.com is extending the excitement surrounding the summer box-office sensation that scared its way into the history books as the most profitable film of all time. The area can be accessed via www.amazon.com/blairwitch.
In addition to the exclusive footage, film fans will enjoy a number of other Blair Witch Project features. Amazon.com visitors will be able to:
- Save on pre-orders of The Blair Witch Project videos available October 22, including DVD and VHS versions
- Pre-order the documentary The Curse of the Blair Witch
- Pre-order a two-pack set of the VHS film version and the documentary
- Pre-order the DVD and Blair Witch logo T-shirt before October 22 and receive a special $5 discount
- Order Blair Witch merchandise including the book, soundtrack, T-shirts, hats, and posters
- Send free Blair Witch e-cards
About Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 video, and No. 1 book retailer, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest SelectionTM with online auctions, toys, electronics, free electronic greeting cards, and more than 4.7 million book, music-CD, video, DVD, and computer-game titles. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where people can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. As part of its efforts to provide the best shopping experience for customers, Amazon.com provides secure credit-card payment, personalized recommendations, streamlined ordering through 1-ClickSM technology, and hassle-free auction bidding with Bid-ClickSM.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com also operates LiveBid.com (www.livebid.com), the sole provider of live-event auctions on the Internet.
In addition, Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service, with operations in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, at www.homegrocer.com; and Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction services, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 1999 and June 30, 1999.
Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Internet Movie Database, PlanetAll, Earth's Biggest Selection, Bid-Click, and 1-Click are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
About Artisan
Artisan Entertainment Inc. is a diversified entertainment company that specializes in the development, production, acquisition, marketing, and worldwide distribution of quality feature-length motion pictures. The company has secured a major pay-TV deal with ShowtimeNetworks; an output deal with Hallmark Entertainment, which covers all Hallmark, Crayola, and Cabin Fever product; a distribution deal with the Shooting Gallery for its film product in all media; the purchase of an equity stake in Summit Entertainment; and an output deal with Alliance in Canada. Artisan is composed of four key groups: Artisan Pictures Inc., Artisan Home Entertainment Inc., Artisan Television, and Artisan International. Artisan Entertainment Inc. controls a library of more than 6,300 titles, which include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Dirty Dancing, Total Recall, The Piano, and the successful Rambo series of films, as well as a library of widely recognized children's programming under its Family Home Entertainment brand. The company maintains offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas.