Marvel isn’t shy about updating us on their business plan, as we saw in the past. And this time they’re sharing their brand expansion plan. “We’re not in the business of simply making films; we’re in the business of building brands,” Marvel Entertainment president Paul Gitter said. The comic book company is planning to have an even bigger merchandising campaign for their ‘Iron Man’ DVD release this fall, than the theatrical release last month.

Gitter even wants to “create specific programs for each retailer,” he said. “Our strategy is to place product into the marketplace prior to a film’s releasing and to keep it [there], then to freshen up the product with new styles and new art in time with the DVD release.“

But not only that. Marvel has a three-year strategy for all their currently planned films. 1. Release the movie in theaters and on DVD, with marketing well in advance. 2. Expand with a supporting animated release. 3. Release the sequel to the first movie.

With ‘The Incredible Hulk’ coming up, Marvel seems to be hitting the gold by making their own movies. But can they keep it up? And are they expecting ‘Thor,’ ‘The First Avenger: Captain America,’ ‘The Avengers’ and all their sequels to be a success?

Did you think your new DVDs were getting cheaper? Not really. NPD’s research shows the prices for new DVDs have been stable since 2004. The average price dropped just 6 cent, from $17.27 in 2004 to $17.21 in 2007.

Retailers don’t want to take a loss to get buyers into their store, like they used to. “There was a time when you’d see $13.99 across the board [for a new release], but now it’s more like $17.99. I think they are finding they just aren’t the draw anymore, when people would come in for DVDs and you could drive them to other areas of your business. But if you maintain the higher price, and sell less, then you’ll do OK,” one retailer said.

Consumers don’t mind the pricing either. In a survey by the NPD, 62% said DVD prices were good to excellent. Just 2% said the value was poor. $15.50 was considered the optimal price for a new DVD, while $19.61 was the highest consumers would still pay.

Nicolas Cage’s biggest movie yet came in at number one for both sales and rentals last week. ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’ grossed over $450 million at the worldwide box office and its grabbing a couple more million in stores now. It pushed last week’s top rental ‘Mad Money’ to the second place, which made another $6.1 million. ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’ took in an estimated $8.7 million.

But Disney’s adventure doesn’t end there. ‘National Treasure’ topped the Blu-ray and DVD sales charts too. ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’ was the number one Blu-ray, ‘National Treasure’ (the first movie) was number two and they shared the third place with a two-pack.

Indy also makes an appearance. The first three ‘Indiana Jones’ movies took the second to fourth place in the DVD chart. And I reckon most of the viewers went to the fourth installment after that.