Well... I have to tell you, Warner's got some great stuff on the way for 2006. Some very exciting titles were revealed last night at their press event at the studio. Warner Home Video's Senior VP for Theatrical Catalog Marketing (George Feltenstein), newly-minted VP for Publicity and Promotion for Theatrical Catalog (Ronnee Sass) and other senior Warner execs were on hand to announce that over 200 new-to-DVD catalog titles will be released by the studio on DVD in the new year.
Warner was quick, and right, to stress that "the death of DVD has been greatly exaggerated." The Warner film vaults contain some 6,600 theatrical film titles... only 1,200 of which have been released on DVD thus far. That leaves over 5,400 titles for the studio to choose from when it comes to catalog DVD releases, so there's PLENTY of great films left to mine in the years ahead.
Another thing that Warner noted, and I asked them specifically about this issue, is that many of the titles that they have planned for release on DVD in 2006 will be released day-and-date on HD- DVD format as well. Warner execs were also careful to stress that while some of their HD titles will enjoy a brief period of exclusivity on HD-DVD, given that the format is launching first, every title that's released on HD-DVD will also be released on Blu-ray Disc when that format finally launches later this year. I also learned that while some extras will be exclusive only to the HD formats, Warner is going to be careful to make sure that all of the extras available on regular DVD will also be included on HD... so you can replace your regular DVDs with either HD-DVD or Blu-ray if you so choose. Look for the first Warner HD-DVD titles in late March, with another wave of catalog titles in early April. Note that Warner's catalog titles on HD-DVD are going to be priced at a very wallet-friendly SRP of $29.98 (though new films may cost more).
Now then... let's talk titles. Warner claims to have invented the 2-disc special edition with their 2001 DVD release of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. They plan to continue their line of 2-disc special editions in 2006. All of these titles will feature newly-remastered HD transfers (and again, many will be released simultaneously in HD-DVD):
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) - with a new feature-length documentary and audio commentaries
Forbidden Planet (1956) - with a new feature-length documentary
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - packaged with The Maltese Falcon - Dangerous Female (1931) and Satan Met a Lady (1936)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Look for 4 new Stanley Kubrick SEs including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980) and the original unrated version Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Each will include new documentaries and never-before-seen footage blessed by the Kubrick Estate (although don't look for deleted scenes - Stanley himself never wanted them released).
There's a new John Wayne/John Ford Collection on the way, which will include The Searchers: 50th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition (1956), along with a Stagecoach: Two-Disc Special Edition (1939), Fort Apache (1948), The Long Voyage Home (1940), The Wings of Eagles (1957), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), They Were Expendable (1945) and 3 Godfathers (1948).
There's also The John Ford Collection that will include The Lost Patrol (1934), The Informer (1935), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), Mary of Scotland (1936) and Sergeant Rutledge (1960).
Now... here's a look at some more of the 200 new-to-DVD titles coming in 2006:
Grand Prix: 2-Disc Special Edition (1966)
The Astaire and Rogers Collection, Volume 2 - featuring Flying Down to Rio (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Carefree (1938) and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
The Busby Berkley Collection - featuring Footlight Parade (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Dames (1934) and Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
The Warner Tough Guys Collection - featuring 'G' Men (1935), Bullets or Ballots (1936), San Quentin (1937), A Slight Case of Murder (1938), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and City for Conquest (1940)
Knute Rockne All American (1940) - just for you Notre Dame alumni!
The Marlon Brando Signature Collection - featuring Julius Ceasar (1953), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) and The Formula (1980)
The Bette Davis Collection, Volume 2 - including a new Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?: Two-Disc Special Edition (1962 - with new and vintage documentaries and never-before-seen footage), Jezebel (1938), Old Acquaintance (1943), Marked Woman (1937) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942).
The Lucy and Desi Collection (due 5/9, SRP $29.92) - featuring The Long, Long Trailer (1954), Forever, Darling (1955) and Too Many Girls (1940)
The Tennessee Williams Film Collection (due 5/2, SRP $79.92) - featuring A Streetcar Named Desire: Two-Disc Special Edition (1951), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Deluxe Edition (1958), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), Baby Doll (1956), The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) and The Night of the Iguana (1964).
Additional DVD box sets will be released featuring (known titles listed as follows, but more are TBA):
Clark Gable - including Mogambo (1953), Dancing Lady (1933) and Boom Town (1940)
James Stewart - including The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) and The Naked Spur (1953)
Humphrey Bogart - including Passage to Marseille (1944), Action in the North Atlantic (1943) and Across the Pacific (1942)
More Film Nior titles including Lady in the Lake (1947)
Paul Newman
Taylor & Burton
Gary Cooper - including Sergeant York (1941) and The Hanging Tree (1959)
Already announced for 4/18 is a TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (SRP $39.92), including Bonnie Scotland and The Devil's Brother (both 1933), along with vintage excerpts and the Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story feature-length documentary.
On 4/25, look for the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory Collection (SRP $59.92) including It's Always Fair Weather (1955), Summer Stock (1950), Three Little Words (1950), Til the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946).
TCM Achives will also release a whole new series of Forbidden Hollywood Collections. The first release will include Baby Face (1933), Red Headed Woman (1932) and Waterloo Bridge (1931 - unseen since its original theatrical release) along with a new feature-length TCM documentary.
Warner is also going to launch a new series of Ultimate Collector's Editions, patterned after last year's deluxe version of King Kong. These will include tons of bonus features, books and booklets, production art cards, soundtrack CDs, souvenir programs and more.
The first of these will be John Wayne and John Ford's The Searchers (already mentioned above).
Late in 2006 (tentatively in November, timed to coincide with the DVD release of Bryan Singer's Superman Returns), look for a 14-disc Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition box set. This will feature new deluxe editions of all four of the original feature films, including a Superman II: Special Edition with something called The Donner Cut. This is being assembled by editor Michael Thaw based on the film's original shooting script and Donnor's original notes. At least 50% of the film will be footage you've never seen, more than 70% of it directed by Donner. You'll also get Richard Lester's final theatrical cut of the film. The Donner Cut will only be available on DVD in the Ultimate Collector's Edition box set, although it will also be released in HD-DVD (and likely Blu-ray Disc if that format is available).
We were actually shown a clip of the new Donner Cut at the event - the original opening to Superman II, in which Lois Lane notices a picture of Superman in a copy of The Daily Planet... and then she looks at Clark Kent standing nearby... and she begins drawing glasses, a suit and hat on the picture of Superman. She figures it out. Then she tells Clark she knows who he really is... and jumps out Perry White's office window to prove she's right. Clark runs at super-speed downstairs, and blows up at the falling Lois to slow her fall. She lands safely in a fruit stand, by which time Clark has already run back upstairs to preserve his identity. Someone asks him where Lois is, and he replies, "Uh... she just stepped out for a minute."
An interesting thing to note however, is that it seems Richard Donner himself hasn't yet been involved (and is not involved in cutting the new version of the film). During the event, I chatted with AICN's Drew McWeeny (well known as "Moriarty" over there) who told me that he's been interviewing Donner recently (watch for that to be posted on AICN soon). The director has reportedly told Drew that he's not really interested in revisiting the film. When asked during the event what Donner's involvement was (whether or not he'd do commentary, etc), Warner execs said, "That's still to be decided." Our guess is that the studio is still negotiating with Donner to participate, and that it's merely a matter of a dollar figure that everyone is happy with. Cross your fingers on this, because it'd be a real shame if he declined to be involved. FYI, IGN also has a brief interview with Donner that touches on this.
Some other interesting Warner release news... look for a movie-only version of King Kong to be released on 3/28 (SRP $14.97). That same day, Warner will package the Kong tin set together with Mighty Joe Young and Son of Kong for SRP $49.92.
The studio is also continuing its series of Action and Family Double Feature DVD releases in 2006.
A Cool Hand Luke: Special Edition (1967) is tentatively being planned for 2007.
Quo Vadis (1951) is being considered for future DVD release, but the Technicolor classic is going to require Ultra-Resolution restoration. Given the film's length, that's going to take significant time and be VERY expensive.
And finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited (and I made a point to specifically ask about this title, believe me)... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see.
from thedigitalbits.com
