'The Dark Knight Rises': Variety And The Hollywood Reporter Have The Earliest Reviews Among All Newspapers -- So Why Can't They Find A Way To Monetize That Going Forward?

Let's say there are 650 companies that do the same thing -- they all sell widgets. But two of them have a widget nobody else has. Pretty great, right? It's only natural that those two companies would be in a terrific position ... pushing, selling and marketing those special widgets in order to get more customers/make more money...you would think.

That's the case we have with THR and Variety, but in an industry in dire need of capital-driven ideas, they don't seem to know how to sell their special widgets. Or want to.

The widgets in this case are early event-movie reviews. And in today's case...well-written pieces on "The Dark Knight Rises" from Todd McCarthy and Justin Chang. Seeing them come across my email via alerts just got me thinking about the lost opportunity the trades continue to endure when it comes to these major items. There's so much noise all year long when it comes to beating everyone and being early. But here's a bona fide example that shows exactly why Variety and THR have such an advantage...but also why their sales teams are, honestly, lazy. Because they are the first on the planet with 'Dark Knight' reviews. On. The. Planet. The editorial side did their jobs. Yet there's no way to come up with ideas to profit from that? No way at all?