Site created 12/15/97.		page updated: 12/5/01 Rumor Mill (Archived Posts 10/19/01 - 6/7/01) Back to Previous Archives Back to Current Posts 10/19/01 Okay... we've spoken to our studio contacts and other industry sources, and we're gonna give you a look at not only everything that's currently slated release for DVD from the major studios, but also everything we could find out about that they've got planned (or have in the works) for 2002 and beyond. Everything listed here that has a specific street date is officially scheduled. The rest, particularly information about upcoming titles, generally comes from studio sources (via chats, discussions and Studio Day), but should still be taken as tentative until officially announced. 20th Century Fox Fox's slate of upcoming DVDs includes Guadalcanal Dairy, The Halls of Montezuma, A Wing and a Prayer and The Young Lions (all 11/6), The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (11/13), Planet of the Apes (2001) and Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series (both 11/20), Willow: Special Edition (11/27), War of the Roses and Moulin Rouge: Special Edition (both 12/18), Object of My Affection, M*A*S*H: Five-Star Edition and M*A*S*H: TV Season One (all 1/8/02), Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete First Season (1/15/02), Kiss of the Dragon, The Five Heartbeats and Carmen Jones (1/22/02), My Bodyguard, Breaking Away, The Sandlot, Rookie of the Year, Baby's Day Out and a trio of Shirley Temple classics including Dimples, Heidi and Bright Eyes (1/29/02). Among the titles the studio is working on and has tentative plans to release in 2002 are Speed: Five-Star Edition, True Lies: Five-Star Edition, Futurama: The Complete First Season, Office Space: Special Edition, Wizards, Hoffa, Hot Shots 1 & 2, The Good Son, Stealing Beauty, The Man From Snowy River, The Hustler: Special Edition, Say Anything, The Lodger, Hangover Square, Alien: Five-Star Edition, Hello Dolly, Cocoon, Cocoon: The Return, How to Steal a Million, Valley of the Dolls, The Verdict, Silent Movie, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, To Be or Not to Be, High Anxiety, The Rose, The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season, The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season, The X-Files: The Complete Fifth Season, The X-Files: The Complete Sixth Season, Millennium: The Complete First Season, The Day the Earth Stood Still, All That Jazz, The Commitments, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona and One Million Years BC. Note that while many of these titles are currently in production, others are still very early in the planning stages. Whether they make it out in 2002 or not remains to be seen. Additional M*A*S*H TV sets are also possible. And the just-released From Hell is an obvious day-and-date release for next year. Other titles under consideration for DVD release in 2003 and beyond include The Grapes of Wrath, Vanishing Point, Planet of the Apes: Five-Star Edition, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, Strange Days: Five-Star Edition, Johnny Dangerously, all the rest of the Planet of the Apes series in anamorphic widescreen, Peyton Place, Howard the Duck, Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, The Fly: Special Edition, El Norte, Better off Dead, Laura, the Our Man Flynt films and a possible Predator 2: Special Edition. Paramount Paramount's already slated titles for the rest of 2001 include Road Rage (10/30), Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition and MTV's Inside Fear (both 11/6), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Bride of the Wind (both 11/13), Apocalypse Now Redux (11/20), What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Star Trek: The Original Series 37 & 38 and Pootie Tang (all 11/27), Soap Dish, Frankie & Johnny, 'Til There Was You and MTV's The Real World You Never Saw: Back to New York (all 12/4), The Score, The Elephant Man, Medium Cool and Star Trek: The Original Series 39 & 40 (all 12/11) and Seconds and Prophecy (both 1/8/02). Paramount is wrapping up Star Trek: The Original Series on DVD in December, so they'll begin releasing Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD (in complete season box sets) in the spring. Deep Space Nine and Voyager could follow later in the year, but this is still TBD. The studio is also going to start releasing new, dual-disc special editions of all the Star Trek films, beginning with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan mid-next year. All three Beverly Hills Cop films will arrive on DVD in January, along with Harlem Nights and Vampire in Brooklyn. Planned for some time in the first half of the year are The Bad News Bears, Lady Sings the Blues, The Duellists, Sunset Boulevard, Top Secret, Better Off Dead, Serpico, Sabrina, Mahogany and a Fatal Attraction: Special Edition. Later in 2002, watch for Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Reds, Footloose, Flashdance, Friday the 13th, Part VII, Friday the 13th, Part VIII and Once Upon a Time in the West. Grease and Saturday Night Fever are still MIA due to music rights issues. Sources are telling me that work has begun on a Raiders of the Lost Ark DVD, but there's no word on when it might see the light of day. Certainly, Lucasfilm will have a big hand in that decision. Titles tentatively slated for 2003 include Trading Places, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Hud, Major League, Pretty in Pink, Popeye, Brady Bunch: The Movie, A Very Brady Sequel, If... and Some Kind of Wonderful. The studio does have eventual plans to revisit all of its non-anamorphic releases, so you can eventually expect better versions of Titanic (pending director James Cameron's availability) and Top Gun. The studio may also revisit the Friday the 13th series and the Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan films as special editions (Hunt for Red October in 16x9 anyone?), although no firm plans exist as yet. MGM Currently on MGM's announced slate are Broadway Danny Rose, Choose Me, Dominick and Eugene, Gregory's Girl, Hannah and Her Sisters, Legally Blonde, Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Of Mice and Men, Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days and Zelig (all 11/6), Angry Red Planet, At the Earth's Core, Dogs of War, Empire of the Ants, An Eye for an Eye, Gang Related, I Bury the Living, Invasion USA, Lone Wolf McQuade, Lord of the Flies, Morons from Outer Space, People that Time Forgot, Strange Invaders and War Gods of the Deep (all 11/20), Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Special Edition (all 12/4), The Basket: Special Edition, Defiant Ones, Dodsworth, Fritz the Cat, Handmaid's Tale, Indian Runner, Inherit the Wind, Look Back in Anger, The Lover, Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, Party, Separate Tables, Topkapi and Witness for the Prosecution (all 12/11), Amazing Grace, Carrington, China Moon, Echo Park, The Favor, The Fires Within, The Good Wife, JD's Revenge, Jack and Sarah, Lonely Hearts, Mannequin, Maria's Lovers, Romantic Comedy, The Russia House, Speechless, Wuthering Heights (1970) and Truly Madly Deeply: Special Edition (all 12/26), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Special Edition and Mad Max: Special Edition (both 1/4/02) and Jeepers Creepers: Special Edition and What's the Worst That Could Happen? (1/8/02). Among the many titles MGM has in production for DVD in 2002 are special editions of UHF, Rain Man, The Last Waltz, The Sure Thing, The Producers, The Fog, The Hunger, Last Seduction, Where Eagles Dare, Dances with Wolves, Bull Durham, Raging Bull, Fargo, Thelma & Louise, RoboCop and The Usual Suspects. A second season of Stargate SG-1 is also slated for the first half of the year. The forthcoming Windtalkers and Rollerball will also arrive in 2002. Columbia TriStar Columbia TriStar has a good slate of upcoming titles, including The Age of Innocence, Anzio, Baby Boy, The Blue and the Grey, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, Muppet Family Christmas, The Prince of Tides, Remains of the Day and Subway (all 11/6), America's Sweethearts, Cheap Detective, Diary of a Sex Addict, The Point Men and The Toy (all 11/13), Arctic Blue, The Bear in the Big Blue House: Potty Time, The Bear in the Big Blue House: Visiting the Doctor, The Breed: Special Edition and St. Elmo's Fire (all 11/20), Divided We Fall, The Road Home, The Owl and the Pussycat and Moscow on the Hudson (all 11/27), John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, Jerry Maguire: Special Edition, Mixed Nuts, Sheena, Silent Rage, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Weekend at Bernie's 2 and White Water Summer (all 12/4), Bram Stoker's Dracula: Superbit, Call Me Claus, Casualties of War, Druids, The Following, Gattaca: Superbit, The Patriot: Superbit, Sahara and Waterdance (all 12/11), Big Heat, Jackpot, Motorama, Murder by Death, Queen Bee, The Secret of Green Papaya and Vertical Ray of the Sun (all 12/18), Two Can Play at That Game (12/26), Glass House and Greenfingers (both 1/2/02), Zebra Lounge (1/8/02) and Glitter and Tortilla Soup (both 1/15/02). Look for Columbia TriStar to greatly expand their anime and Hong Kong DVD lines in 2002 and beyond, starting with the animated Metropolis. Look for the SuperBit line to be expanded as well. Among the special edition releases/re-releases you can expect in 2002 are Used Cars, Stripes, Starship Troopers, Philadelphia, The One, Spider-Man and 1776. Strangely, a Starman: Special Edition the studio is creating will only be released overseas, due to poor sales of the movie-only version here in the States. Other titles are currently in the planning stages, but Columbia appears to be getting cautious about releasing deep catalog titles, fearing poor sales. In addition, little TV product is in the offing for DVD from the studio. Universal Universal's upcoming slate is somewhat light, with only Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Collector's Edition widescreen and full frame (both 11/20), Beethoven's 4th and The Land Before Time: The Big Freeze (both 12/4), Jurassic Park III: Collector's Edition widescreen and full frame and The Jurassic Park Collection (all 12/11), The Fast and the Furious and The Man Who Cried (both 1/2/02) and American Pie 2 (4 versions - Unrated and R-Rated in both full frame and widescreen) and Pavilion of Women (all 1/15/02). There has been much speculation that Universal's 2002 DVD output will be much increased over 2001, as a foreign distribution agreement with Columbia TriStar is set to expire at the end of this year. That means that a number of properties that Universal's been holding back should finally see the light of day on DVD in 2002. We do know that the long-awaited Legend: Ultimate Edition will arrive on the format early next year. The odds of a Back to the Future trilogy release on DVD are better than ever in 2002, although nothing firm is set. We have, however, been told that collector's editions of Duel, Schindler's List and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial are all but certain for next year, and you can expect special editions of The Andromeda Strain and several John Hughes films as well. New Line New Line only has a couple of titles currently slated for DVD release, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Rush Hour 2: Infinifilm (both 12/11). New Line's forthcoming DVD offerings look to be pretty lean. Short Cuts and Kansas City are likely 2002 releases, as is Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. And the studio has long been preparing material for eventual DVD releases of the forthcoming Lord of the Rings films. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is almost certain to be released on DVD by mid-2002. DreamWorks DreamWorks also has only a few DVDs on their schedule, including Shrek (11/2), Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut (12/4) and Evolution (12/26). As far as 2002, look for AI: Artificial Intelligence, The Last Castle and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion early in the year. The upcoming, animated Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron is also in production for eventual DVD release. Artisan On the way from Artisan are Along for the Ride and Ticker (both 11/13), Backyard Dogs, Clifford: Saves the Day, Gunmen, The Item and The Sicilian (all 11/20), Made: Special Edition (11/27), Twin Peaks: Episodes 1-7 (12/4) and Denise Austin: Power Yoga Plus, Hamlet (2000), Lynyrd Skynyrd: Freebird/Tribute Tour, Mama Flora's Family and Sleepless (all 12/18). There's not a lot of word available on forthcoming Artisan product, but DVDs currently in production at the studio for 2002 include a Reservoir Dogs: Special Edition, more Twin Peaks TV product and a Frank Herbert's Dune: Special Edition. Buena Vista Coming from Buena Vista are Mickey's Magic Christmas: Snowed in at the House of the Mouse, Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street, Santa Who? and Sister Act (all 11/6), Calle 54, The Closet, crazy/beautiful, Everybody's Famous and Jailbreakers (all 11/13), Walt Disney Treasures: Davy Crockett, Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland USA, Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies, Pearl Harbor: 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition and the Pearl Harbor: 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Gift Set (all 12/4), Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, The Princess Dairies widescreen and full frame, Princess of Thieves and Scary Movie 2 (all 12/18), Tombstone: Vista Series and The Sixth Sense: Vista Series (both 1/8/02), Newsies, Tron: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition, Belle du Jour, The Hunchback of Notre Dame: 40th Anniversary Edition (live action) and Young Girls of Rochefort (all 1/15/02), Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Collector's Edition (both 1/19/02), Peter Pan: Special Edition and Disney's American Legends (2/12/02), Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2/26/02), The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (3/19/02) and the Pearl Harbor: Vista Series Director's Cut (5/15/02 - delayed from January). The studio's Vista Series will continue to expand in 2002, with Ed Wood likely among others. Miramax also has a bunch of great DVD special editions on the way for next year. Some titles currently in production are The Others, The English Patient, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, Heavenly Creatures, El Cid, Fall of the Roman Empire, Circus World, 55 Days from Peking and the Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, White and Red). Dick Tracy is reportedly being prepared for special edition release in 2002. Other possible live-action family titles include Swiss Family Robinson, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Love Bug, The Parent Trap, Escape to Witch Mountain and Return from Witch Mountain. As far as more animated product, look for the following titles in 2002: Monsters, Inc. (fall 2002), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company, The Rescuers and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (all TBD). A new anamorphic widescreen version of Pocahontas is also possible, along with more Walt Disney Treasures releases that would feature additional Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck animated shorts (the plan is for the WDT line to eventually include ALL of the classic animated shorts). The studio has also revealed that its next animated platinum title will be Beauty and the Beast in November of 2002. Look for Aladdin to be the platinum title for 2003 and The Lion King for 2004. Warner Bros. Currently slated from Warner and its various properties (HBO, PBS, etc.) are Empire of the Sun, National Geographic: Pearl Harbor - Legacy of the Attack, The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season, Comedy Only in da Hood, South Park: Timmy, South Park: Winter Wonderland, Trans Siberian Orchestra: Ghosts of Christmas Eve and The World at War 5-disc box set (all 11/6), Art of Violin: Special Edition, Green Day: International Supervideos, World Series 2001, Now Voyager, Little Women, Osmosis Jones and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory widescreen version (all 11/13), Dead Pool, Dirty Harry: Special Edition, The Enforcer, The Best of Friends 3 & 4, Magnum Force, The Matrix Revisited and Sudden Impact (all 11/20), American Outlaws, Pokemon: Mewtwo Returns, Mists of Avalon and Summer Catch (all 12/4), 4 Dogs Playing Poker (12/11), Uprising (12/18), Four for Texas, Ocean's Eleven, Robin and the Seven Hoods, Ken Burns' Mark Twain, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Miss Evers Boys and Marcus Garvey: Look For Me in the Whirlwind (all 1/8/02) and Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided (1/29/02). Some 50 vintage titles are already slated for DVD release in the first half of 2002 by Warner. These will include Every Which Way But Loose, Any Which Way You Can, Klute, Designing Women, Summer of '42, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Prince and the Showgirl, The Harvey Girls, Calamity Jane, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Women, Bringing Up Baby, Love in the Afternoon, A Touch of Class, National Lampoon's European Vacation, McCabe and Mrs. Miller and more. A number of great special editions are officially planned for 2002 and are in various stages of production, including The Great Race, Strange Brew and Clash of the Titans (all summer), The Iron Giant (late 2002), Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Victor/Victoria, Goodfellas, Poltergeist, Mean Streets and of course, the long-awaited Blade Runner (all TBD). Amblin is working on several more for next year, including The Color Purple, Gremlins and Gremlins 2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and the forthcoming remakes of The Time Machine and Ocean's 11 are certain to be big hits on DVD next year. And I'd be stunned if The Sporanos: The Complete Third Season, Sex and the City: The Complete Third Season and Band of Brothers weren't released in 2002 from HBO via Warner. Other possible titles to look for in 2002 from Warner include a Humphrey Bogart box set (featuring Treasure of the Sierra Madre), Ken Burns' The Civil War, King Kong, Stephen King's It, The Haunting (1963), Dial M for Murder, Mildred Pierce, Swing Time, Top Hat, Nightbreed: Director's Cut, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, House of Wax, Meet Me in St. Louis, Unforgiven, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Innerspace, The Mission, Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet and a Roots: 20th Anniversary box set. If you loved the studio's V DVD, next summer you'll be able to purchase V: The Final Battle on DVD. Batman, Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks and Batman Returns are all being looked at for special edition treatment, pending the availability of the directors to participate (none are in production as yet). Animated Batman is also on the way - the studio has revealed that Batman: Subzero, the original unedited Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Batman: The Animated Series and The Batman Superman Movie are all in their plans for next year. Warner is also looking at the possibility of releasing TV product on DVD in season-at-a-time sets, although no plans have been firmly set. We do, however, know that if you love Babylon 5, and would love to see more of it on DVD, then you need to get out there and buy the first Babylon 5 disc when it's released on December 4th. The studios says that it will make future plans for the series on DVD based on the success of that release. For late 2002 and beyond, the following titles are under consideration: A Night in Casablanca, The Loved One, Brewster McCloud, Soylent Green, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Best Friends and special editions of Forbidden Planet, Blazing Saddles, Logan's Run, Superman II and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Once Upon a Time in America is currently planned for 2003, along with The Adventures of Robin Hood which is being restored for its 65th anniversary. Finally, be aware that the studio is already at hard work on bringing its much-loved Looney Tunes shorts to DVD, but there's a lot of restoration work that needs to be done first, so don't look for them any time soon. Image Image has the biggest DVD slate of anyone through the rest of the year. The full list includes All Star Tribute to Brian Wilson, Andre Previn: The Kindness of Strangers, Educational Archives #1: Sex and Drugs, Educational Archives #2: Social Engineering, Lima: Breaking the Silence and Man of Flowers (all 11/6), Andrew Dice Clay: Dice Rules, Black Cat/Fat Black Cat, Chopper: Special Edition, ELO: Zoom Tour Live, Jewel: An Uncommon Life, Modern Love #3 and Secrets #4 (all 11/13), Alice in Wonderland (Broadway version), Antigone, Berg/Debussey/Stravinsky: Pierre Boulez, Cologne Music Triennale: Strauss/Rautavarra, Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Live at the Royal Albert Hall, Waldbuhne 2000 and Sugar Ray: Music in High Places (all 11/20), 10 Violent Women, 8 Man After: Perfect Collection, And Then There Were None, Angel and the Badman, Babel 2: Perfect Collection 5-8, I Spy: The Robert Culp Collection 1-2, Primitive Love/Mondo Balordo, Regeneration/Young Romance and Worm Eaters: Special Edition (all 11/27), BB Mak: Music in High Places, BET on Jazz: Brenda Russell, BET on Jazz: Freddie Jackson, Blind Beast, Crawling Eye, Tender is the Heart, Voices from Beyond and Lost Continent (all 12/4), Bach/Vivaldi: Il Giardino Armonico, Bach: Mass in B Minor - Georg Christoph Biller, Beethoven: Symphony #9/Piano Concerto #2, Debussey/Boulez/DeFalla - Chicago Symphony, Erotic Dreams #4, Fantasies #4, The Go-Gos: Live in Central Park, Madam Butterfly: Puccini, Satyagraha: Philip Glass, Stephane Grapelli: In New Orleans, Strong Cheese Incident: Evolution, Swingin' Bach: Bobby McFerrin & Friends, Toots Thielemans in New Orleans, Tribute to George Gershwin and Woody Herman Remembered (all 12/11), and Ah, Wilderness!, Beyond the Horizon, Computer Animation Adventure, Computer Animation Experience, Doctor Chance, For Sale, God's Little Acre: Special Edition, Of Freaks and Men, Pigkeeper's Daughter/Sassy Sue and Wrestling Women USA/Pin Down Girl (all 12/18). As far as future DVD releases from Image, you can expect lots more music titles in 2002, along with more entries in Steve Oedekerk's "thumbation" series, including Thumbtanic, Bat Thumb, The Blair Thumb, Frankenthumb and The Godthumb. No kidding. Anchor Bay Currently slated from The Bay are Bad Taste, Daleks' Invasion of Earth 2150 AD, Doctor Who and the Daleks, Learning Guitar for Dummies, Sinister Saga of the Making of the Stunt Man and Stunt Man: Special Edition (all 11/20) and The Amy Fisher Story, Britannia Hospital, Clockwise, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Lust for a Vampire, Morgan and Percy (all 12/4). Four of the Apocalypse is also expected in December, although it has yet to be announced. 2002 will see a new Evil Dead: Special Edition (February), Watcher in the Woods (Q1 2002), a Highlander: Special Edition, Soul Man, Mad Monster Party, The Jazz Singer, Can't Stop the Music, Violent City, The Initiation, The Man Who Haunted Himself, The Final Terror, Stage Fright, Mad Mission (a.k.a. Aces Go Places), The American Friend, Trick of Light, Nick's Film, Nightmare City, Curse of the Devil, Sleepaway I & II, Making Contact, The Noah's Ark Principle, The Werewolf's Shadow, Society, Spontaneous Combustion, The Church, Kind Hearts & Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Lady Killers, The Man in the White Suit, Captain's Paradise and more Moonlighting TV episodes. Dawn of the Dead is also a possibility for late next year. And DVD releases tentatively planned for 2003 include Are You Being Served and Emanuelle in America (along with other Emanuelle titles). Criterion Criterion has a number of good films already slated for the remainder of the year. These include 8 ½, Don Juan, The Last Wave, Rebecca, Spirits of the Dead and That Obscure Object of Desire (all 11/13). Titles reported to be in production for December and into 2002 include Wild Strawberries, The Tales of Hoffmann, Spellbound, Solaris, Shanghai Express, Rules of the Game, Rashomon, Olympia, Monterey Pop, Loves of a Blonde, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, La Strada, Knife in the Water, Juliet of the Spirits, Ivan's Childhood, The Importance of Being Earnest, Howards End, The Horse's Mouth, Hearts and Minds, George Washington, The Fireman's Ball, Dodes' Ka-Den, Cocktail Molotov, Children of Paradise and Cousin, Cousine (all TBD). Stay tuned… 10/4/01 So you say you're a fan of Lord of the Rings and you can't wait for a look at the upcoming film version of The Fellowship of the Ring? Well, if you're an avid DVD nut, you probably already know about the hidden Easter egg on New Line's Little Nicky DVD - the teaser trailer for Fellowship in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. What's that? You say that's not enough for you? Okay... riddle me this: what do the following two films have in common? Normally nothing... but if you happen to pick yourself up a copy of Rush Hour 2 on DVD when it streets on December 11th, you're gonna love what you find hidden on the disc. Yep... not just one but two trailers for Fellowship of the Ring - the second teaser trailer and the newly-released full theatrical trailer - both in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio! Our most reliable studio sources have confirmed this. How's that for some cool Easter eggs? Did I tell you that you can click on the cover there to preorder the disc? ;-) Stay tuned... 9/26/01 We've been hearing from our sources (and several readers as well) that the first season of Fox's Futurama animated series is coming to DVD early next year. The German DVD website DVDinside.de is reporting that Futurama: The Complete First Season is coming out there on February 7th. No word yet on a Region 1 release, but for some reason Fox's release information seems to leak out overseas first, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it announced for Region 1 soon. We've also got reports that M*A*S*H: The Complete First Season is on the way in Q1 2002, along with the M*A*S*H: Five Star Collection. And we have confirmed that both Speed and True Lies will be released as Five Star Collection titles for later in 2002. Stay tuned... 9/19/01 We've got word on two more Disney DVDs - animated titles both. On January 29th, look for Disney to release a 2-disc version of Atlantis: The Lost Empire for $29.95. And on March 19th, the studio will release the direct-to-video The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2. Meanwhile, as you may have heard, Columbia TriStar has announced a trio of additional SuperBit titles. Look for Bram Stoker's Dracula, Gattaca and Mel Gibson's The Patriot. Each will feature Dolby Digital and DTS audio and maxed-out video bit rates. Each disc will SRP for $27.95. Finally, word is that MGM will finally release their The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Special Edition DVD on January 1st - this is confirmed. The disc will reportedly feature anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, audio commentary by director W.D. Richter, a rare prologue sequence starring Jamie Lee Curtis, restored and never-before-seen deleted scenes with director's audio commentary, a "making-of" documentary (featuring Richter, John Lithgow, Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum and more), "in-depth character profiles", a storyboard and "behind-the-scenes" featurette, TV spots, theatrical trailers and several Easter Eggs. It will also be Nuon-enhanced. Stay tuned... 9/18/01 Just an update on a number of Miramax titles. We've confirmed that the following titles are currently in production as special editions (probably for 2002, although we have no official information on street dates). We'd heard that they were coming before, but consider this confirmation they are officially still in the works: The English Patient, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, El Cid, Fall of the Roman Empire, Circus World, 55 Days from Peking and the Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, White and Red) Also Buena Vista is still currently working on their special edition of Tombstone, which will likely be a Vista Series release next year. 9/4/01 Okay... several of our retail sources have checked in with updated street dates on a number of major upcoming titles. This is based on studio advance information sent to retailers for preordering and ad planning. So here's the latest... Moulin Rouge - November 6th Scary Movie 2 - November 27th The Princess Diaries - December 4th Rush Hour 2 - December 12th American Pie 2 - January 15th A.I. - Artificial Intelligence - January 29th. Stay tuned... 8/30/01 Based on our sources, we've got estimates of the release time-frames for a number of major upcoming (and as yet unannounced) DVDs. Here's what to expect: November - Planet of the Apes, The Fast and the Furious, Rush Hour 2 and American Pie 2 December - Jurassic Park III and Moulin Rouge Q1 2002 - A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Princess Diaries and Scary Movie 2 Stay tuned... 8/14/01 We have it from a very good source that the Samurai Jack movie (which just debuted on The Cartoon Network) is already on its way to DVD. No release date has been determined yet, but look for the disc to feature a full Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix. So how good is our information? Well... our source works on the show. How's that for good? We've also been told that the series' creators would love to see the regular Samurai Jack episodes released on DVD too, in complete season sets (the show has already been purchased for three seasons worth of episodes by The Cartoon Network). But given who releases Cartoon Network product (can you say Warner anyone?) that will probably be an uphill battle. I can see the meeting now: "Whole seasons on DVD?! No, no, Mr. Tartakovsky... our carefully researched spread sheets show that people would MUCH rather have "Best of" DVDs! Let's not get too far out there! In fact, why don't you just let us pick the episodes and you go back to creating your little samurai show, okay Mr. Tartakovsky?" Ggrrr.... Hey - you Samurai staffers want help convincing Warner, you just give us a call. ;-) Stay tuned... 8/1/01 A number of distributor sources have been e-mailing us all week to say that they've been quietly informed of Disney's plans for their next few animated Platinum titles. Definitely file this in the category of rumor, but according to these sources, look for Beauty and the Beast (yech) next fall, Aladdin in the fall of 2003 and The Lion King in 2004. Also, Atlantis will be a 1st quarter 2002 release to DVD. We'll have to see if this pans out. I'm definitely not looking forward to Beauty though, so I hope this isn't 100% true. Maybe Disney will reverse the order of those three? [Editor's Note: Okay... Let me quality that. It's not that I don't like Beauty and the Beast. I just like Aladdin and The Lion King more. Regardless, based on the fact that Disney is readying Beauty for an IMAX re-release in March of 2002, it looks Beauty is on the way to DVD in the fall of next year. No offense to any fans of the film intended.] ;-) Stay tuned... 7/31/01 Although neither studio will officially confirm this, we've been told by a number of distributor and retail sources today that DreamWorks will debut their 2-disc Shrek on a Friday (surprise!) - November 2nd. Jurassic Park III will follow on December 11th. And while Warner released Steven Spielberg's A.I. theatrically, we're now told that DreamWorks/Universal will distribute the DVD and VHS versions, sometime in the December or January 2002 time frame. Stay tuned... 7/27/01 Any "indy" film fans out there? As in THE Indy films? I thought so... listen up - The Digital Bits has it on good authority (from multiple sources) that the original Raiders of the Lost Ark is being planned as a DVD release in 2002. It's still very tentative, and we're not saying another word about how we know. In fact, we're not saying another word period. But we feel confident that if all goes well, Indy will be cracking his whip in your home theaters by the end of next year. One last note today - DreamWorks has informed us that Shrek is not streeting on November 6th as previously reported. That means it's coming on either the 13th, 20th or 27th of November - take your pick. We've also got good word that it will be an elaborate 2-disc special edition. Look for an official announcement in the next few weeks. 7/19/01 We've confirmed with our sources that Columbia TriStar's long-awaited (by me at least) Monty Python and Holy Grail: Special Edition is due on October 23rd. The new DVD will at long last feature an anamorphic widescreen transfer, in this case of the newly restored version of the film. But Python fans have still more to look forward to from Columbia - that same day, the studio is also releasing Terry Gilliam's 1977 Jabberwocky on DVD! Very cool! One last note for those who missed it in the daily column the other day - sources are telling us that November 6th is the day that DreamWorks will bow everyone's favorite green, computer-generated orge to DVD. Yep... Shrek is on the way. We've also learned that production on the Jurassic Park III DVD is nearly finished, so look for that in time for the holidays. Stay tuned... 7/11/01 We've been checking in with studio sources and have learned that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is discussing the possibility of revisiting Speed and True Lies as future 5-Star Editions for release in 2002. Look also for the M.A.S.H.: 5-Star Edition to be announced at some point in the coming months, now that The French Connection's been revealed. Meanwhile, our sources are telling us that November 6th is the day that Warner's Doctor Zhivago will be released on DVD. Word is that Omar Sharif has already been tapped to record either a commentary track OR behind-the-scenes interviews for the disc. Look for Warner to go all out on this title. The first two Batman films are being looked at for special edition re-release, pending director Tim Burton's availability. The long-awaited The Iron Giant: Special Edition is finally in production. I'm also told that the Looney Tunes shorts are currently being remastered for eventual DVD release, and that at least some Babylon 5 titles are already on the release schedule. No details are available at this time. Stay tuned... 6/26/01 We've gotten tentative confirmation of The Criterion Collection and Home Vision Entertainment's DVD release schedule for the remainder of 2001, at least through November. Here's what to expect: 8/28 - Carl Theodor Dreyer Box Set (includes Gertrude, Ordet and Day of Wrath) 9/18 - The Vanishing, Closely Watched Trains, Shop on Main Street and Le Trou 10/2 - The Ruling Class and Shanghai Express 10/16 - Rashomon, Haxan and Notorious 11/13 - The Last Wave, Obscure Object of Desire, 8½ and Rebecca We also have a tentative date on Paramount's Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition - November 6th. And finally, DreamWorks has confirmed that The Mexican will street on August 7th, along with An Everlasting Piece. Each DVD will SRP for $26.99. Stay tuned... 6/20/01 We've got more A&E DVD news for you today. Many of you have been waiting for word on additional British TV series releases on DVD. Well here you go... The Prisoner, Sets 5 & 6 will street on September 25th. That same day will also see the first episodes of Secret Agent (a.k.a. Danger Man) arrive on DVD. The Avengers '68 is also on the way in October. And don't forget The Saint, Sets 1 & 2, which street on June 26th... more volumes of the Roger Moore series will arrive on DVD before the end of the year. Look also for at least the first 2 sets of Space: 1999's second season to street before the year is out. In other news, sources are telling us to expect Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition to street in the first week of November (for more on what to expect on the disc, click this link at Star Trek.com). And finally this morning, look for A Knight's Tale and The Forsaken on DVD from Columbia TriStar on September 25th. La Grand Vida is due on September 18th and Memento will street on September 4th. Stay tuned... 6/19/01 We've got some more news and interesting little bits of DVD info for you today. Most of this would fall into the non-rumor category, but our daily column is a little bit crowded with Episode I news, so this is spilling over here. First of all, we've confirmed that A&E WILL continue their Space: 1999 DVD releases to cover the show's complete second season. As you may know, Sets 3 & 4 were just recently announced for July 31st, which complete the first season. We've also learned that Set 3 & 4 will include original broadcast trailers for all first season episodes, and Set 4 will also include a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the first season. Very cool. In other news, many people have complained that on MGM's Region 4 DVD release of The Terminator: Special Edition, the film's opening monologue text has been replaced by text that's generated electronically by the player. This will NOT be the case with the Region 1 release later this year. We've just gotten official final word from MGM on this: "The player generated subtitles will not be found in the domestic release of The Terminator." Hope that clears it up. In other DVD news, Columbia TriStar has announced the DVD release of The Tailor of Panama for September 9th. Warner's working on Introducing Dorothy Dandridge for August 7th, along with a 2-disc Benny Hill's Golden Greats set for August 28th. Better still, if you're a fan of their IMAX titles, you'll be happy to learn that they've got several more IMAX DVDs coming on October 2nd, including Destiny in Space, Mission to Mir, Hail Columbia and The Fires of Kuwait. And all 5 of the space titles (the 3 just mentioned along with The Dream is Alive and Blue Planet) will be available in an IMAX Space Collection box set for $98.92. Sweet! There's been so much noise today about the Episode I DVD announcement, that a lot of people have forgotten that there's another Lucasfilm title soon to be announced for DVD from Fox. Word is from our sources, that it's a 2-disc Willow: Special Edition. We'll have to wait and see... Finally, Buena Vista Home Entertainment has let us know that one of the things they eventually plan to do with their forthcoming "Walt Disney Treasures" line of DVDs, is to release complete volumes of all the Disney animated shorts. So eventually, you'll have a volume dedicated to the Mickey Mouse shorts, one with all the Donald Duck shorts, etc.. One of the first volumes (streeting on December 4th) will feature all of the original Silly Symphonies shorts. Stay tuned... 6/14/01 One last Fox note today... several retail sources have let us know that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is holding a major retailer conference next week, where they'll be talking about upcoming videos and DVDs. That should include Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, Muolin Rouge and other big titles. BUT... here's the punch. We've been told to expect the studio to officially announce the DVD release of Star Wars: Episode I next week as well (for an October 16th street date). Is the wait finally over? We'll have to wait and see. But these same sources accurately predicted the Godfather announcement earlier this week, so cross your fingers... Meanwhile, an Italian DVD website claims to have uncovered the complete DVD specs for the U.S. 2-disc set. The specs, which have spread everywhere this morning, are as follows: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Disc One - the film in anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, THX-certified, audio commentary by director George Lucas and various members of the production team, weblink to StarWars.com Disc Two - the film's teaser and theatrical trailers, the Duel of the Fates music video, 9 TV spots, production still gallery, "making of" documentary, multiple production featurettes (on the special effects, costumes, set decoration and art direction, screenwriting and lightsaber duel choreography), multi-angle "animatic" footage (for introduction, pod race 2nd lap and underwater Gungan city scenes), 7 fully post-produced deleted scenes (pod race "starting grid" sequence, complete pod race "2nd lap" sequence, "waterfall" sequence, Coruscant "aero-taxi" sequence, "sunrise before the podrace", "Anakin and Greedo" and "farewell to Jira") and more. Both discs are also expected to feature elaborate, fully-animated menus. If these turn out to be the real thing, the set promises to be pretty cool. But what I'd really like to see is John Williams' score on an isolated, 5.1 audio track. Now THAT would be cool. We'll post the complete specs next week when they're officially announced. Stay tuned! 6/7/01 Well... it's official. We've confirmed with Paramount that The Godfather Trilogy DVD boxed set will be announced Monday at a special, invitation-only event to be held in New York City. The event, a 4 PM EDT press conference with director Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount Home Entertainment officials, will be followed by an Italian street fair in Brooklyn. More than 1,000 guests have been invited, and the event is also being used to promote the Morisi-Coppola Pasta Factory. Details on the DVDs will be released on Monday as well, but you can reasonably expect anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, audio commentaries and a ton of special edition materials to be included on a bonus 4th disc in the boxed set. Look for the set to street well before Thanksgiving. More on Monday. Also today, we wanted to wrap up other announcements that were made while we were away (other than those we listed in the daily, My Two Cents column yesterday). First of all, MGM finally announced the DVD release of Hannibal and Silence of the Lambs for August 21st, as expected. Both discs will be special editions, while Silence will be available in 2 versions - full frame and widescreen. Buena Vista added Get Over It to their August 14th slate. DreamWorks announced both The Mexican and An Everlasting Piece for August 7th. Fox announced Extreme Limits for August 14th, along with Batman: The Movie: 35th Anniversary Edition and Say it Isn't So for August 21st. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie, The Legend of Hell House, Phantom of the Paradise and The Fury will follow on September 4th. Warner's special edition of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is due on August 28th. And Universal finally announced all those new Classic Monster DVDs for August 28th, including Dracula's Daughter/Son of Dracula, Son of Frankenstein/Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman/House of Frankenstein, The Mummy's Ghost/The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Hand/The Mummy's Tomb and The Werewolf of London /The She Wolf of London. Also due on September 18th from the studio are both versions of Cape Fear and Play Misty For Me. Finally, Boogeymen and Tremors 3: Back to Perfection are slated for October 2nd. Stay tuned... More Archived Posts Back to Current Posts
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