While the motion picture trades view Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within as a 'failure' since it was not able to recoup its considerable cost during its theatrical run, the results in the collectors' market are considerably brighter.  Palisades Marketing has reported a complete sellout of its 12' collector's figures from the film, and many stores surveyed by ICv2 reported that they had been able to sell their inventory of previous Final Fantasy figures as well as products associated with the new film.  If there is anything positive in the Final Fantasy's disappointing performance at the box office, it is that Columbia Tri-Star plans an early Oct. 23 release for the two-disk collector's edition DVD.

 

While the Final Fantasy DVD will be released into a very competitive pre-holiday marketplace (see 'Phantom Menace DVD Bows in October'), it will have a lot going for it.  While many fans and critics found fault with the plot of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, there is no denying the groundbreaking nature of the hyper-realistic animation or the excellent vocal work from Ming Na, James Woods, Donald Sutherland, and Alec Baldwin among others.  Then there are the special features (most of which have not yet been revealed), which are sure to include documentary footage on the making of this unique film, explaining how the filmmakers were able to create such realistic characters.  Advance word from the studio hints that the FF DVD will also include some supercool interactive features that viewers who have a Sony Playstation II will be able to exploit. Sony released Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, so this will be an example of corporate synergy at its best. 

 

Retailers should not be scared off the Final Fantasy DVD, because the film didn't top $150 million at the box office.  Particularly if you know that a good percentage of your customers have Playstation II, the Final Fantasy DVD could be a very interesting product for your store.  More information on the nature of the many special features that this two-disk set will contain will be available in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned for more details, and keep an open mind about FF:TSW.  In spite of the lackluster box office, Final Fantasy merchandise has been doing just fine in specialty stores.