DVDs are Dying, But Not for Anime Distributor Funimation

As streaming services focused on narrow slices of content like Korean drama and Japanese anime continue to proliferate and find a critical mass of users, Hollywood can’t help but notice the appeal of devoted niche communities. They can get people to the theater — and perhaps more impressively, get them to buy DVDs.

Anime company Funimation distributed Japanese film “Your Name” in the U.S. last month, where it reeled in a respectable $4.7 million (the film made $354 million worldwide). And that’s hardly uncharted territory for the anime studio, whose “Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F” grossed more than $8 million in the U.S. after its August 2015 release. And given “Your Name’s” limited release — it maxed out at 311 theaters its opening weekend — it packed an even stronger per-theater punch.

“We were actually the number four movie on a per-screen average,” Funimation Chief Operating Officer Mike DuBoise told TheWrap, mentioning the film’s strong opening. “We’ve now got two of the top 10 largest opening weekends in anime.”

Also Read: 'Your Name,' Anne Hathaway's 'Colossal' Shine at Indie Box Office

The company brings in more than $100 million in revenue, more than doubling it since 2013, and Funimation’s passionate fan base has even allowed it to thwart the sinking tide of DVDs, as DuBoise said sales remain strong even as most of the home entertainment industry is seeing the discs fly off shelves much more slowly than they have in the past. Streaming services like Netflix have effectively filled the role that video rentals used to — except for anime, apparently.

“We’re continuing to have amazing sales of DVDs,” DuBoise said. “We see that the industry is going counter to that trend.”

In September, former Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton touched on plunging DVD sales at TheWrap’s TheGrill conference.

Also Read: Niche Streaming Service VRV Adds New Titles, Desktop Platform

“We do have to figure out a way to make up for the hole in the boat that the decline in the DVD business has shown,” Lynton told TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman in a conversation at the Montage Beverly Hills. “It is definitely down double digits of late … it is significant.”

Funimation has managed to fill that hole with a passionate fan base that wants to own anime shows that they might have had a hard time accessing in the past. DuBoise said Funimation founder Gen Fukunaga, who started the company in 1994, had a correct long-term view that anime would be a rising genre in the U.S.

“He had incredible vision the 1990s that there would be a huge appetite for this content from the American audience,” DuBoise said. “What we’ve always been known for is translation and dubbing into English and making great shows more accessible to the U.S. audience.”

Also Read: Netflix's 'Death Note' First Trailer Draws Fire as Latest Japanese Story Recast With White Hero (Video)

DuBoise also credits the internet for exposing anime fans to better content faster — and making them want to get their hands on it.

“The internet allowed anime fans to discover great shows much closer to when they air in Japan,” he said.

That’s led to the rise of anime streaming services like Crunchyroll, which topped 1 million subscribers in February. VRV, another streaming service owned by Crunchyroll parent Ellation focused on anime, animation and sci-fi, expanded its offerings this year as well — which includes a Funimation channel. And Funimation has its own streaming service, FunimationNow, which just launched in Australia and New Zealand.

Also Read: How Crunchyroll Turned a Niche Audience Into a Streaming Powerhouse

While DuBoise underlined the importance of Funimation’s online fans and social media following, he said the fact that the company attends conventions and parties — and has products available in brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart — gives the brand resonance in the real world, as well. And event movies like “Your Name” are hugely important, too.

“We think it’s really important to be able to have this community shared activity on the big screen,” DuBoise said. “Fans love anime — they get out and support it.”

Not only that, they even buy DVDs.

25 Summer Movies We're Dying to See, From 'Alien: Covenant' to 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' (Photos)

Summer 2017 is bringing a wealth of promising movies to the cineplez. Here are some of the buzziest.
May 5: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2"

Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and scene-stealer Baby Groot pick up right where they left off in this sequel to the 2014 Marvel hit.
Disney
May 12: "Snatched"

CinemaCon attendees got to see some extended footage of the comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer, who play mother and daughter who go on a vacation together and get involved in some unexpected criminal activity. It looks hilarious, and the movie marks Hawn's return to the big screen after a 15-year absence.
Fox
May 19: "Alien: Covenant"

Fans of the "Alien" franchise have been looking forward to the new film, which welcomes back Michael Fassbender as both Walter/David, as well as new cast members Danny McBride, Katherine Waterston, James Franco and Demian Bichir.
Fox
May 19: "Everything, Everything"

Based on a best-selling YA novel, director Stella Meghie's "Everything, Everything" follows a girl (Amandla Stenberg) who has lived in solitude her entire life because she's allergic to everything, but takes an interest in the boy (Nick Robinson) who's moved in next door.
WB/MGM
May 26: "Baywatch"

Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach and Priyanka Chopra star in this comedic feature film take on the iconic TV series. The trailers we've seen so far just make fun of Efron's character, and the whole movie looks like eye candy for men and women alike.
Paramount
June 2: "Wonder Woman"

It only took 75 years, but after making a huge splash in last year's "Batman v Superman," DC Comics Amazonian Superheroine finally headlines her own movie this summer. The film stars Gal Gadot and is directed by Patty Jenkins.
Warner Bros.
June 9: "The Mummy"

Tom Cruise headlines this updated take on the classic Universal monster. The remake tells us the story of an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella) who was denied her chance to be the next Pharaoh and wreaks havoc centuries after the fact.
Universal
June 16: "All Eyez On Me"

The Tupac Shakur biopic has excited fans since the announcement of the project, and further casting notices including that of Kat Graham and Danai Gurira have enticed fans further to look forward to its release.
Lionsgate
June 16: "Rough Night"

The first trailer for the film previously titled "Rock That Body" was full of sex, drugs and, yes, murder. It's no wonder that we're so eager to see the comedy starring Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon and Zoe Kravitz.

Sony
June 23: "Transformers: The Last Knight"

Michael Bay returns for his final "Transformers" movie and intends to go out with quite a bang -- literally. Mark Wahlberg also returns and Anthony Hopkins star in the latest installment which sees humanity at war with the Transformers while Optimus Prime is MIA.
Paramount
June 23: "The Big Sick"

Kumail Nanjiani's "The Big Sick" was one of the hottest titles at the Sundance Film Festival and is based on the true story of his relationship with his now-wife, co-screenwriter Emily Gordon (played on screen by Zoe Kazan). When she gets sick with a mysterious illness, he must team up with her parents to overcome the crisis.

Amazon
June 23: "The Beguiled"

Sofia Coppola's drama follows a girls' school in Virginia which takes in a wounded soldier. Soon, sexual tension and jealousy takes over the school. The period drama stars Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell.
Focus
June 28: "Baby Driver"

From director Edgar Wright, the film revolves around a young but talented getaway driver named Baby, played by Ansel Elgort. In a sign of confidence, Sony's TriStar moved up the release from the dead of August.
Sony
June 30: "Despicable Me 3"

Steve Carell plays not one but two characters in this movie -- Gru and his twin brother, Dru. And the duo team up for one last heist with the assistance, of course, of dozens of minions.
Universal
July 7: "Spider-Man: Homecoming"

After being introduced as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe last year in "Captain America: Civil War," Tom Holland returns as the web crawler in his standalone film to face off against Michael Keaton's villainous Vulture. Robert Downey Jr. co-stars as Iron Man.

Sony
July 7: "A Ghost Story"

Hot off his Oscar win for "Manchester by the Sea," Casey Affleck stars in "A Ghost Story" alongside talented actress Rooney Mara, the film follows Affleck’s white-sheeted ghost who unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the woman he loves slowly slip away.
A24
July 7: "Step"

Buzzy Sundance doc "Step" follows a girls’ senior-year high school step team in inner-city Baltimore as they strive to become the first in their families to go to college.
Fox Searchlight
July 14: "War for the Planet of the Apes"

Director Matt Reeves returns for the third movie in the rebooted franchise after helming 2014's "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes." This time, Woody Harrelson is the film's main antagonist, which combined with the franchise's epic CGI apes, should make for a solid sci-fi film.
Fox
July 21: "Dunkirk"

CinemaCon attendees also saw footage of Christopher Nolan's WWII epic, which stars Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Harry Styles as well as newcomer Fionn Whitehead in the lead role. Nolan fans and Styles fans are sure to flock to the theaters.
Warner Bros.
July 21: "Girls Trip"

Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah reunite 20 years after "Set It Off" along with Regina Hall. The ladies go on a girls trip to New Orleans, which obviously turns wild.
Universal
July 28: "Atomic Blonde"

Charlize Theron's bisexual spy thriller follows MI6’s most lethal assassin through a ticking time bomb of a city simmering with revolution and double-crossing hives of traitors. Theron's Agent Lorraine Broughton is equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery.
Focus
August 4: "Detroit"

Director Kathryn Bigelow and producing partner Mark Boal's highly anticipated followup to their acclaimed 2012 drama “Zero Dark Thirty" is another fact-based drama with a stellar cast: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Jason Mitchell, Anthony Mackie and Jack Reynor. The film recounts the racially charged riots that rocked the Motor City in 1967.
August 4: "The Dark Tower"

Fans of Stephen King's genre-defying multi-book saga have been clamoring for a filmed version for decades and the first installment finally arrives with Idris Elba as the Gunslinger Roland Deschain chasing Matthew McConaughey's Man in Black across a highly stylized, scorched-earth landscape.
Sony
August 11: "Annabelle: Creation"

The followup to 2014's supernatural horror thriller "Annabelle" follows a couple who just lost their daughter -- but as soon as they invite a nun and some orphans into their home, some unexplained things begin to happen.
New Line
August 18: "The Hitman's Bodyguard"

Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson make a great duo in this action comedy. And Salma Hayek adds another layer of laughs to the movie, which follows a bodyguard (Reynolds) who must get one of the biggest hitman's in the world to The Hague. Obviously, the two have history.
Getty Images