The Rumor Mill - Archived Posts (3/15/01

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(Archived Posts 3/15/01 - 3/5/01)

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3/15/01

Here goes... a rundown/recap of every major title that's on the way from April on. Nearly every title you see below with a street date has been officially announced. Here goes...

Columbia TriStar

Lawrence of Arabia (2-disc set), Anatomy, Circus, For Pete's Sake, Krull: Special Edition, True Believer, The Natural (4/3), Agent Red, Tokyo Raiders (4/10), The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, Finding Forrester, Just Looking, My Life, The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, One Day in September, Princess Caraboo (4/24), Ice Castles, Postcards from the Edge, Threesome (5/1), All the Pretty Horses, Suspect (5/8), The Beast, Hangman, Kept (5/15), Altitude With Attitude (3-pack), Beautiful Joe, Into Thin Air, The Three Stooges: Merry Mavericks, Vertical Limit (5/22), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (2-disc set), Celluloid Closet, Tootsie, The House of Mirth, QB VII (2-disc set), A Few Good Men: Special Edition, Once Upon a Time in China, Part 2 (5/29), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan, All the King's Men (6/5), Things Are Tough All Over, Cops and Robbersons, Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams (6/12), Dogma: Special Edition (2-disc set) (6/29)

Other titles to look for in the months ahead are Gandhi, Final Fantasy, On the Waterfront, Subway, The Great Muppet Caper, The Age of Innocence, The Prince of Tides, Used Cars, The Indian in the Cupboard, 1776, Ishtar, Hanover Street, Casualties of War, Funny Girl, Kramer vs. Kramer and From Here to Eternity. The studio also plans to revisit more of its earlier titles as more deluxe editions, including Absence of Malice, Fly Away Home, My Best Friend's Wedding and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which will finally receive a new Python Pictures-approved anamorphic transfer and cool special edition materials).

Buena Vista

102 Dalmatians (Widescreen), 102 Dalmatians (Pan & Scan) (4/3), The Yards, Bounce (4/10), Hamlet (2000), Playing Mona Lisa, The Proposal (4/17), The Emperor's New Groove, The Emperor's New Groove: Ultimate Groove (2-disc set) (5/1), Duets, Legend 2, The Miracle Worker (TV version) (5/8), Bounty Hunters, Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball (5/15), Oliver and Company: Gold Collection, So Dear to My Heart: Gold Collection (6/5), Unbreakable (2-disc set) (6/26)

In addition to these titles, look for O Brother, Where Art Thou? in June, the direct-to-video sequel The Hunchback of Notre Dame II in September and Disney's long awaited Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: Platinum Edition in October. Also in the works are special editions of Chocolat, Tombstone, The English Patient, Pulp Fiction, the Trois Colours Trilogy and possibly Jackie Brown.

Paramount

Funny Face, Paris When it Sizzles, Sabrina, Terms of Endearment (4/10), The Ladies Man (4/17), Coneheads, Ghost, Kill Shot, Love Story, Star Trek: The Original Series, Volumes 21 & 22, Stuart Saves His Family, Summer Rental (4/24), Sunshine, What Women Want (5/8), The Bridges at Roko-Ri, Catch-22, Hell is For Horses, In Harm's Way, Uncommon Valor (5/22), Donovan's Reef, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Sons of Katie Elder, Star Trek: The Original Series, Volumes 23 & 24 (6/5), Ordinary People (7/17)

Paramount's Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Cut is due sometime in the 3rd quarter, with completely restored picture and sound and tons of new footage and never-before-seen special effects shots. The studio is planning to release Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes on DVD in the 3rd or 4th quarter, and possibly Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager as well. Episodes of the classic TV series The Invaders for DVD? Paramount also has plans to release Mommy Dearest, A Place in the Sun and Marathon Man this summer. Their Once Upon a Time in the West DVD is on hold due to rights issues, but should still make it out this year. Ordinary People should now include a commentary track with director Robert Redford with ot arrives later in 2001. Also in the works from Paramount are The Elephant Man, The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now: SE and Forrest Gump: SE (4th quarter). The Indiana Jones Trilogy and a Mission: Impossible: SE are possible for 2002.

20th Century Fox

Cleopatra: 5-Star Edition (3-disc set), Soul Food: Director's Edition (4/3), Men of Honor (4/10), 9 to 5, For the Boys, Nine Months, Norma Rae, Rangers, Tigerland, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Working Girl (4/17), The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (7-disc set) (5/8), Sand Pebbles, Tora! Tora! Tora!: Special Edition, Twelve O'Clock High, Von Ryan's Express (5/15), Big Trouble in Little China (2-disc set), Chain Reaction, Point Break, Unlawful Entry (5/22), Bus Stop, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch, There's No Business Like Show Business, Marilyn Monroe: Diamond Collection (with bonus disc) (5/29)

Also on the way from Fox are a 2-disc, Die Hard: 5-Star Edition, along with additional 2-disc special editions of Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard With a Vengeance (slated for summer release). Also coming as 5-Star Editions are The French Connection and M.A.S.H. (3rd quarter). The studio is also working on Cast Away, Dude, Where's My Car? and an elaborate special edition of Tim Burton's new Planet of the Apes. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete First Season is due later in the year, along with The Simpsons: The Complete First Season, Angel: The Complete First Season and The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season. The TV series M.A.S.H. is being planned for DVD release as well. And the first Star Wars movie will arrive on DVD in late 2001. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace will be a 2-disc special edition, which, if all goes well, you'll have in your hands by Thanksgiving.

Image Entertainment

Coffin Joe: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, Coffin Joe: Awakening of the Beast, Beast that Killed Woman/Monster of Camp Sunshine, The Fall of the House of Usher (1928), The Lost World (1925), Coffin Joe: This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, U.K. Celebrity Special: Adele Stevens (4/3), Beast Must Die, BET on Jazz: Ben E. King, Carmen Bizet: Maria Ewing, Leonard Maltin's Animation Favorites, Lovemaster, MacBeth: Verdi - Deutche Opera Berlin, Picasso, Scandal: Passion and Romance, Sergei Eisenstein: Mexican Fantasy, Smokey Robinson: Standing Room Only, Woman, Her Men and Her Futon (4/10), Deadly Beauty: Snow's Secret Life, For Sale, Hardcase and Fist, I Spy, Volumes 8 & 9, Phenomenon: The Lost Archives #2, Return of the Ultra Vixens, Scandal: The Big Turn On, Sorry and the Pity, Tower of Song (4/17), Back to God's Country Double Feature (1919), Born American, Eternal Love (1929), Evangeline (1929), Joan the Woman (1915), La Belle Helene: Offenbach - Nikolas Harnoncourt, Life Before This, Lohengrin: Wagner - Vienna State Opera, Mon Oncle Antoine, Sex Files: Digital Sex, Teenage Gang Debs/Teenage Strangler, Violent Years/Girl Gang (4/24), Bach: Mass in B Minor, Dominici Affair, Gene Autry Show: Gold Dust Charlie, Gene Autry Show: The Double Switch, Lady of Burlesque, Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill/Head Mistress, Street Scene: Kurt Weill: James Holmes, U.K. Celebrity Special - Kirsten Imrie, Wham! Bam! Thank You, Spaceman! (5/1), Bodacious Beauties, Erotic Dreams #2, Five Dolls for an August Moon, Flying Saucer, God's Comedy, Louis Prima: The Wildest, Party, Scandal: On the Other Side, The Joint is Jumpin' (5/8), Ancient Desires: Sex Files, Chapel of Love: Jeff Barry & Friends, Full Disclosure, Parsons Dance Company, Peter and the Wolf: Prokofiev: Royal Ballet School, Phenomenon: Lost Archives - Keeping the Faith, Phenomenon: Lost Archives - Genesis Revisited, Something More (5/15), I Spy, Volumes 10 & 11, Orphee et Eurydice: Gluck: John Elliot Gardiner, Robert Rauschenberg: Man at Work, Variations: In Vogue (5/22), Billy Budd: Britten: English National Opera, Kodo, Lingerie, Monster from Green Hell, Neurotica: Middle-Aged Spread & Other Life Crises, She Demons, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers: Live! (5/29), Bongwater (6/5)

MGM

The Adjuster, Boxing Helena, Fellini's Satyricon, Fellini's Roma, King of Hearts, Live Flesh, Tank Girl, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (4/10), Serpent's Kiss (4/17), Rocky (movie only - widescreen), Rocky: Special Edition, Rocky Collection (5-disc set) (4/24), Antitrust, Apache, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, City Slickers, Eight Men Out, A Family Thing, The Horse Soldiers, The Kentuckian, The Magnificent Seven: Special Edition, Mississippi Burning, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Return of the Magnificent Seven, Semi-Tough, Throw Momma from the Train, The Westerner (5/8), Amos and Andrew, Blame it on Rio, Canadian Bacon, Frankie and Johnny, Home of Our Own, Mean Season, Posse, Shag, Some Like it Hot (movie-only), Some Like it Hot: Special Edition, Southern Comfort, Stargate SG-1 (5-discs), Winter People, Young Blood (5/22), Alice, Another Women, Beach Blanket Bingo, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Donovan's Brain, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, The Fall of the House of Usher, Hope and Glory, The Madness of King George, The Pit and the Pendulum, Platoon: Special Edition, Salvador, September, Shadows and Fog, The Woody Allen Collection (4 films), Something Wild, The Thing with Two Heads, Village of the Giants, X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (6/5), The Apartment, Barefoot Contessa, The Entertainer, Kiss Me Deadly, The Lion in Winter, Marty, The Misfits, Moby Dick, Rembrandt, The Sweet Smell of Success, Tom Jones (6/19)

Later this year look for The Terminator: Special Edition and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World: Special Edition (both Q4 2001), as well as House on the Left, The Silence of the Lambs: Special Edition, Hannibal: Special Edition (2-discs) (all August) and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, RoboCop, Dressed to Kill: Special Edition, Blow Out: Special Edition, The Fog, The Howling, Witness for the Prosecution, Wings of Desire, Theater of Blood, Twice Told Tales, Planet of the Vampires and Fanny and Alexander (all TBD). And here's a sneak peek at some of the titles being planned or in production for 2002: Escape from New York: Special Edition, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Special Edition, Raging Bull: Special Edition, To Live and Die in L.A., Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Dead and Buried, Squirm, Deranged, Vampire Lovers, UHF, Casino Royale, The Sure Thing: Special Edition, Inherit the Wind, The Defiant Ones, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Usual Suspects: Special Edition, The Hunger, State of Grace, Deceiver, The Burning, Persona, Passion of Anna, Man of the West, Zulu, The Unearthly Stranger, Burn Witch Burn, Invasion, Motel Hell, The Comedy of Terrors, The Haunted Place, The Raven, The Tomb of Leigia, The Masque of the Red Death, Running Scared and possibly Outer Limits TV episodes.

Warner Bros.

Being There, Defending Your Life, Empire Records, Lost in America, Powerpuff Girls: The Mane Event, The World According to Garp, Circuit 9 (4/3), Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special, Show Boat (4/10), Space Cowboys (4/17), Return Without Honor, Wives and Daughters (3-disc set) (4/24), Miss Congeniality, Pay it Forward, Superman: Special Edition, Superman II, Superman III, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, The Superman Collection (4 discs) (5/1), Rio Bravo (5/8), Blackadder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Back and Forth, Blackadder Goes Forth, Father Ted: The Complete First Season (5/15), The Fugitive: Special Edition (6/5), V: The Original Miniseries, V: The Final Battle (6/12)

Warner is also prepping new special editions of Citizen Kane, Dr. Zhivago, Giant, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Iron Giant and the Batman films for release later this year. Word is that a number of science fiction titles are being prepped for DVD release this summer, including several Babylon 5 titles. And to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary, look for an awesome, multi-disc Blade Runner: Special Edition in 2002 as well.

HBO

For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (4/17), When it Was a Game 2 (5/1), Blind Justice, El Diablo, In Pursuit of Honor, Tracker (5/8), Sex and the City: The Complete Second Season (5/22), And the Band Played On, Blind Side, Cannonball Run, Disappearing Acts, The Josephine Baker Story (6/5). HBO is also expect to release The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season in May.

New Line

Bamboozled: Platinum Edition (4/17), Little Nicky: Platinum Edition (4/24), Dungeons & Dragons: Platinum Edition (5/22). Also look for David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me later this year. And they're already working on DVD versions of The Lord of the Rings films for next year and beyond.

Universal and DreamWorks

Billy Elliot, Loving Jezebel (4/17), The Mummy: Ultimate Edition (2-discs) (4/24), Jaws 2 (5/22)

Universal's Legend: Collector's Edition (2-discs) has been postponed, but we expect it to be released in August to coincide with MGM's Hannibal disc. They also have How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the works, as well as The Mummy Returns and Jurassic Park III. We still hear that The Back to the Future Trilogy is on the way for this summer, and that Schindler's List is in production for the holidays. And late 2002 will see director Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: Special Edition, with new and expanded scenes.

As far as DreamWorks, the only DVD currently announced is The Legend of Baggar Vance (4/3). The studio is reported to be working on DVD releases of Shrek, The Mexican and (for 2002) an Almost Famous: Director's Special Edition.

Anchor Bay

Death and the Compass, Flowers in the Attic, The Fourth Man, Mio in the Land of the Faraway, Pin, Soldier of Orange, Straight to Hell, Sword and the Sorcerer, Three Businessmen, Turkish Delight, Working Girls (4/24), Nightwatch: Special Edition (5/15)

Artisan

Backtrack, Extreme Prejudice, If I Die Before I Wake, Panic, Substitute 4: Failure is Not an Option (4/24), Beyond the Law, Brooklyn Babylon, Crocodile Hunter's Croc Files, Lost Son, Requiem for a Dream, Tell Me No Lies (5/22). Artisan is also working on episodes of David Lynch's Twin Peaks TV series.

Criterion

Eisenstein: The Sound Years (Alexander Nevsky/Ivan the Terrible, Parts 1 & 2), Mon Oncle, M. Hulot's Holiday, Rififi, The Scarlett Empress, Spartacus (2-disc set) (4/24), The Hidden Fortress, Diary of a Chambermaid, Playtime (5/22)

USA

Attila, NHL: All Access (4/3), NBA: Upsets and Underdogs, NBA's 100 Greatest Plays, Nurse Betty (4/17), NBA: Ultimate Player (5/22), Traffic (5/29)

3/14/01

Okay... let's get the less controversial bit of info out of the way first: Amazon.com has "estimated" that Buena Vista's O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD will street on June 12th. Now we loved this movie, so we'll be happy if the date turns out to be true. Stay tuned on that.

Now then... once again, the subject of Star Wars DVDs has cropped up online with the usual endless speculation about whether a disc IS or ISN'T coming. The Force.net's been running overtime trying to uncover disc specs for the yet-to-be-announced project and Corona's Coming Attractions has published an internal memo from Panasonic Disc Services Corporation (PDSC) on a DVD replication project, which is mysteriously code named "Blue Harvest".

Look... here's the deal. We've been telling you this for a long time now. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is currently in production for DVD release late this year. We've said before that it would be a 2-disc set. We've said you'd have the set in your hands in time for the holidays. The fact that a Star Wars title is in the works has been confirmed by Lucasfilm themselves. This statement was made by Lucasfilm way back on April, 20th of last year (click here to see our post from then with more detailed information):

"Yes, Lucasfilm has officially begun work on DVDs for the Star Wars films, but it is still far too soon to know which films will be released when and what the content will be. It is up to George to decide the content of the discs, and they will not be released in 2000, nor is there any firm date beyond this year."

A lot of people have been wondering why we've been so quiet about this subject for a while. The reason is simple. The DVD IS coming. Period. While we respect The Force.net and Corona tremendously, there's been enough speculation about what the discs might include to choke a Wookie and posting stolen corporate documents probably isn't the best idea. It's not like this is Watergate, after all. So relax. Episode I is coming this year to DVD. The release isn't due until the end of 2001, and even the announcement is months off. Let's just enjoy Cleopatra, Lawrence of Arabia, Close Encounters and all the other great discs we'll get between now and then. And rest assured our holidays will be spent "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

We hope that's enough said.

3/13/01

So how do you get the jump on DVD preorders for a big upcoming DVD? Estimate a street date! Yep... Amazon.com's got MGM's Hannibal down as an "estimated" 10/31 release (SRP $34.98), Universal's How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a 12/11 release ($34.98) and Fox's Cast Away is a supposed 7/12 release ($29.99). They also have The Mexican (10/2), Chocolat (10/30) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (7/5) "estimated". Are these even close? We'll see...

But here's something we know is certain - Paramount's got The Elephant Man on the way, along with special editions of Forrest Gump and the first Mission: Impossible movie. Cool, no?

(LATE UPDATE - 3/12/01 - 3:45 PM PST)

We've gotten word that Warner Bros will release Pay it Forward on DVD on May 15th. New Line's Dungeons & Dragons: Platinum Edition is slated for May 22nd. V: The Original Miniseries and V: The Final Battle should arrive on June 12th. And look for a boxed set of all 4 Batman films re-released as DVD special editions in the 4th quarter. According to Comics2Film.com:

"The Tim Burton original, Batman, will contain lots of extras, like additional scenes, deleted scenes, trailers, commentary, storyboards, cast info and so on. The other movies in the series may also be re-released, but with fewer extras. Harvey speculates that Batman Forever may contain deleted footage as there was an estimated one hours worth cut from the movie."

Also, the latest information we have from HBO is that The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season is still slated for DVD release in May. This is confirmed by HBO's official website for the series, which says that, "the set will include all 2nd season episodes along with trailers and bonus material similar to the first season set."

Stay tuned...

(EARLY UPDATE - 3/12/01 - 1:30 PM PST)

Okay... let's catch up on some of the latest rumors. We've been able to confirm that Close Encounters of the Third Kind is going to be released as a 2-disc special edition on May 29th. Much, but not quite all, of the previous laserdisc material will be included. The set will be THX-certified and will include the 137-minute, new director's cut of the film in anamorphic widescreen. Extras will include Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, the 102-minute "making of" documentary from the previous laserdisc edition, deleted scenes, the Watch the Skies featurette, trailers and more. SRP is slated to be $27.95. Also coming from Columbia on June 5th are The Muppet Movie and The Muppet's Take Manhattan. The Muppet Movie will include anamorphic widescreen and full frame video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, Jim Frawley's camera test footage, "Muppetisms" and trailers. And finally, The House of Mirth is slated to arrive on May 29th as well. Look for the disc to include a director's commentary track at the least. Both House of Mirth and CE3K should be officially announced this week.

Also, look for Warner's V and V: The Final Battle in mid-June. The discs to feature anamorphic widescreen video (at approx. 1.85:1), along with remixed audio and other bonus material.

Stay tuned...

3/5/01

Hang on tight, folks! We've got more details on MGM's June DVD plans. Note that The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai was slated for June, but has been delayed temporarily. Here's what's coming on June 5th:

The Woody Allen Collection Wave Two - includes Alice (16x9, trailer), Another Woman (16x9, trailer), Crimes and Misdemeanors (reissue) (16x9, trailer), September (16x9, trailer) and Shadows and Fog (16x9, trailer)

Platoon: Special Edition (reissue) - 16x9, with Tour of the Inferno documentary, commentary with Stone, commentary with Dale Dye, theatrical trailers, TV spots, photo gallery

Salvador: Special Edition - 16x9, with making-of documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew commentary with Stone 25 minutes of deleted scenes Theatrical Trailer photo gallery

Also coming on June 5th are Hope and Glory (non-anamorphic, trailer), The Madness of King George (16x9, trailer), Something Wild (16x9, trailer), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (trailer), The Fall of the House of Usher (16x9, trailer, commentary by Roger Corman), X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (16x9, trailer, original theatrical prologue and commentary by Roger Corman), Donovan's Brain (full frame, trailer), The Pit and the Pendulum (non-anamorphic, trailer, original theatrical prologue and commentary by Roger Corman), The Thing with Two Heads (non-anamorphic, trailer), Village of the Giants (full frame, trailer) and Beach Blanket Bingo (16x9, trailer)

On June 19th, look for Barefoot Contessa (full frame, trailer), The Apartment (16x9, trailer), Moby Dick (full frame, trailer), The Entertainer (non-anamorphic), Kiss Me Deadly (non-anamorphic, trailer), Marty (full frame, trailer), Sweet Smell of Success (non-anamorphic, trailer), Rembrandt (full frame, trailer), The Misfits (non-anamorphic, trailer), Tom Jones (reissue) (non-anamorphic, trailer) and The Lion in Winter (16x9, commentary, trailer).

Also today, we've got word on a number of forthcoming Warner distributed DVD titles: Showboat (4/10), El Diablo (5/8), Sex and the City: The Complete Second Season (5/22), Switch (7/3), Embrace of the Vampire (TBD), V: The Complete Miniseries (TBD), Ghormenghast (TBD) and The Best of Real Sex (TBD).

Finally today, in light of our comments last week about Ridley Scott's Hannibal, a lot of people have been asking about Universal's Legend: Collector's Edition and Warner's forthcoming Blade Runner: Special Edition. There's no word on Legend, but I suspect you'll see it released in late summer, to coincide with Hannibal's arrival on DVD. And Blade Runner has been tentatively slated for 2002 release, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the film. Stay tuned...

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