Site created 12/15/97.		page updated: 4/4/00 Rumor Mill (Archived Posts 1/26/00 - 12/8/99) Back to Previous Archives Back to Current Posts 1/26/00 Well, we've got some word on a few cool MGM DVDs in the works for later this year - some really interesting titles. This is still very early, but it looks as if the studio is prepping The Princess Bride: Special Edition for DVD release in June. Henry V and a Rocky: Special Edition are coming in July (along with the remaining Rocky films, and a boxed set of them all). And we're hearing that a Platoon: Special Edition is planned for August, along with a Terminator: Special Edition. Word is also that MGM is working on special edition DVDs of Spinal Tap and Escape from New York, and possibly also a re-release of Kalifornia (which was just discontinued as a Polygram title). 1/21/00 Okay... our sources have checked in with word on tentative DVD release schedules for a number of upcoming titles (including some big titles from last year), so we wanted to get them up ASAP. Keep in mind that the schedule below is subject to change. But it should give you a good idea of when things are coming. Note that many of these titles are in addition to titles we've mentioned in recent weeks - be sure to scan posts for the last 30 days. Here's the list, studio by studio: Warner Eyes Wide Shut (March 14th), Three Kings (April 11th), Three to Tango, House on Haunted Hill (both April), The Green Mile (May) and Any Given Sunday (June) New Line The Bachelor (April) and Seven: Platinum Series (TBD) Fox Anna and the King (April 4th), Fight Club (April 18th), Boys Don't Cry (April), Anywhere But Here (May), Light it Up and The Beach (June) Universal For Love of the Game, End of Days (both April), Man on the Moon (May), The Hurricane (June) DreamWorks American Beauty (late April/early May) Paramount Superstar (April), Bring Out the Dead, Sleepy Hollow, Braveheart (all May), Angela's Ashes and The Talented Mr. Ripley (both June) Buena Vista Music of the Heart, Mumford, The Insider (all April), Mystery Alaska, The Straight Story, Princess Mononoke (all May) USA Being John Malkovich (April) MGM The World is Not Enough: SE (May - check out our update on 1/3) Columbia TriStar Dogma (April 25th), Stuart Little, Leon, The Big Blue, The Messenger (all April or May) 1/20/00 We've got an update for you on some of the DVD goodies that our friends over at Trimark are working on for the coming months. Enjoy! March Blue Juice (16x9) with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ewan MacGregor, and Leprechaun In The Hood with Ice-T April SNL: Best Of Steve Martin, SNL: Best Of Chris Rock, SNL: Best Of Dana Carvey, SNL: Best Of Chris Farley May Seven Italian Hercules (English dubbed) titles: The Trojan Horse (1962), Triumph Of Hercules (1966), Medusa Against the Son of Hercules (1963), The Lion of Thebes (1964), Conquest of Mycene (1963), The Loves of Hercules (1960) and Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun (1964) Plus... Rent-A-Cop with Burt Reynolds and Liza Minnelli June Jesus: The Miniseries (blessed by the Pope -- we kid you not!) July Ultimate Fighting Championships Greatest Hits (with alternate camera angles to watch the blood fly) 1/4/00 There's new information today on additional titles that have just been officially announced. Here's a list of what we've got, studio by studio: Anchor Bay - Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, I'll Never Forget What'is Name, Legend of Lobo, Never Cry Wolf, Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (all 2/22) Artisan - Hot Boyz, The Killing, The Limey (all 3/21) Buena Vista - Rich Man's Wife (4/11) Columbia TriStar - Bear in the Big Blue House, Velocity Trap (3/14) and Hook (3/21) Pioneer - Horowitz in Moscow (3/28) Pioneer - Artisan - Gothic, That's Life (3/14) Showtime - Red Shoe Diaries: Game/Girl on a Bike (3/14) Sony Music - Andy Kaufman: Midnight Special (1/4), Black Sabbath: The Last Supper (1/11), Ricky Martin: One Night Only, George Michael: Ladies & Gentlemen (1/25), Mariah Carey #1's, MTV Grind Workout: Tai Funk Aerobics (2/1), MTV Unplugged: Classic Moments, MTV Unplugged: Finest Moments (2/8), Various: Woodstock '99 (2/22), MTV Unplugged: Superstars, MTV Unplugged: Ballads, Sesame Street: CinderElmo (2/29), Kathy Smith: Personal Trainer (3/7) Trimark - Blue Juice (3/14), Leprechaun in the Hood (3/28) 20th Century Fox - Anna and the King (4/4) VCI - Hillbillys in a Haunted House, Las Vegas Hillbillys, Sacco and Vanzetti (2/22) Warner - Two If By Sea (2/1), 187 (2/15) Warner - QuickBand - Circuit 5 (3/7) Warner - Turner - Key Largo (2/15) And be sure to read today's My Two Cents column for lots of great upcoming DVD information from Image Entertainment. 1/3/00 We've got new word on some of what MGM and Paramount are planning for May 2000. The following information is very early (and should be considered tentative only), but if production schedules hold, here's what to expect: Paramount Sleepy Hollow, The Firm, Nashville, Blue Hawaii (and a few other Elvis movies as well), Braveheart: SE MGM Dr. No: SE, Moonraker: SE, The Man with the Golden Gun: SE, The Spy Who Loved Me: SE, On Her Majesty's Secret Service: SE, The World is Not Enough: SE, American Pimp, Supernova We've also got word that February's Stigmata DVD from MGM will include audio commentary by director Rupert Wainright, a Natalie Imbruglia music video, deleted scenes and an alternate ending, and will be NUON-enhanced with an interactive "director's script" feature. And here's Rhino Home Video's release schedule for the next few months: January - My Tutor February - Galaxina, My Chauffeur, Mystery Science Theater 3000: Eegah!, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (4 episodes) March - The Cars: Live, My Favorite Martian (4 color episodes), Stacy's Nights, They Saved Hitler's Brain, Doo Wop at 50, Soundstage: Andy Kaufman and Andy Kaufman: I'm From Hollywood April - Coach, H.R. Pufnstuf Boxed Set (all 17 episodes on 2 discs) Stay tuned... 12/30/99 Here's a juicy little tidbit of DVD information that should make your Y2K okay... some of our best sources are telling us that Universal and Columbia have been quietly making plans to release a number of key Spielberg/Amblin Entertainment titles on DVD next year. Most production is still shut down for the next couple of weeks due to the holidays, but word is that some of the work is already done, or will begin right after the break (the green light already having been given by Spielberg to ready the discs). I'm told that Duel is ready to go from Universal, and that both Jaws and Jurassic Park are currently in development. And most of you already know that the Back to the Future Trilogy is set for release in 2000 as well. Forget what Lucasfilm and Paramount are saying officially - behind closed doors, Lucasfilm has definitely been working on DVD versions of the Indiana Jones Trilogy, with a release planned tentatively for the first half of 2000 (and maybe even early in 2000). And I've been told that Columbia has been quietly working on their previously completed Men In Black DVD elements, and will finally be allowed to release the title as a special edition in early 2000. Their Hook DVD is set for March 21st. With any luck, Close Encounters of the Third Kind will follow later in the year... And one last bit of good news on the Warner front - work is underway on a Blade Runner: Special Edition DVD for release in late 2000. More on that soon... 12/22/99 Close on the heels of yesterday's Star Wars: Episode I DVD rumors, Kevin Smith's News Askew today claimed to have heard the same thing from their sources that we have been... namely that there's a fair chance we'll see the film on DVD day-and-date with the VHS version on 4/4/2000. At least earlier today, the boys at Askew were claiming that an official announcement from Lucasfilm may be made on January 4th. Later they printed a retraction on the story. What's the truth? We'll have to wait and see. Also from Askew today - Criterion has Chasing Amy tentatively set for DVD release in May. Could it be true? Well if not... guess we'll all have to sleep together. That was a bad Chasing Amy joke. Did you SEE the end of that film?! Did anyone else think it came out of the blue, or am I just missing something here? I thought it was a pretty great little flick until THAT particularly unmotivated little twist... Stay tuned. ;-) 12/21/99 There's an interesting bit of information in this week's issue of Video Store magazine (an industry trade publication, to which Bits editor Bill Hunt is a regular contributor). First of all, they report that distributor sources are confirming the April 4, 2000 street date for the VHS version of Star Wars: Episode I (as reported here on 11/16). There's also a bit of speculation on a possible DVD version of the film. It seems longtime Fox duplicator Deluxe lost the contract to manufacture the VHS version of the film to Technicolor, and speculation is that it's because Lucasfilm wants an intergated replicator to do the work - Technicolor replicates DVDs, while Deluxe does not. Click here to read the article in its entirety on the Video Store website. While this is still definitely in the catagory of rumor, it is interesting nonetheless... (LATE UPDATE - 12/14/99 - 3:45 PM PST) Sources have told The Digital Bits that Buena Vista's rumored DVD price changes (which were alluded to by the studio at the recent Studio Day), may soon take effect on at least some of their upcoming releases. The first title to be affected should be Tarzan on February 1st. We're told that the disc will street with an SRP (Suggested Retail Price) of $34.99 and an MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) of $24.99. That's down from $39.99 and $29.99 respectively. If this is true, it ought to make DVD fans very happy. The price changes should be announced within a week or two. Here's a list of the titles the studio has in the works: January An Ideal Husband, The 13th Warrior, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter, A Price Above Rubies, Encino Man, Mad Love, Rushmore Criterion, The House of Yes, Adventures in Babysitting and Sister Act II (all on 1/18), and My Son the Fanatic and My Life So Far (both on 1/25) February Pretty Woman: 10th Anniversary Edition and Tarzan (both 2/1), Fist of Legend (2/8), In Too Deep, Total Recall 2070, When a Man Loves a Woman, I Love You, I Love You Not and Georgia (all on 2/15), and An Extremely Goofy Movie (2/29) March The Sixth Sense, Outside Providence, Guinevere, Prophecy III: The Ascent, B. Monkey, Miami Rhapsody, The Color of Money and Outrageous Fortune (street dates TBD) April Tarzan: Collector's Edition (4/18), and The Tie That Binds, The Mighty Ducks and Rich Man's Wife (street dates TBD) May We're hearing that Toy Story 2 may be slated tentatively for some time in May (but keep in mind, this is VERY early unofficial information). Note that the basic edition of Tarzan will include the Strangers Like Me music video, a "Trashin' the Camp" recording session with Phil Collins, read-along and trivia game features, a sneak peak at Dinosaur, the trailer, anamorphic widescreen, DD 5.0 sound, THX-certification and DVD-ROM features (including a game demo, weblinks and a 2 month's subscription to Disney's Club Blast). The Tarzan: Collector's Edition will include sections on the film's history and development (including "From Burroughs to Disney", "History of Production", an early presentation reel, and a research trip to Africa), sections of the film's music (including "The Making of the Music", "Tarzan goes International", the You’ll Be In My Heart music video, the Strangers Like Me music video, the "Trashin' the Camp" recording session with Phil Collins, and original Phil Collins song demos), a Story and Editorial section (including the original treatment, "Building the Story", storyboard to film comparison, and abandoned story reels), a section on the characters of Tarzan, a section on the animation production and (including concept art, color keys, layouts and backgrounds, "Deep Canvas Process", and "Early Deep Canvas Tests"). You'll also get theatrical trailers and ad campaign materials, read-along and trivia game features, anamorphic widescreen, DD 5.0 sound, THX-certification and DVD-ROM features (including a game demo, weblinks and a 2 month's subscription to Disney's Club Blast). Whew! As of now, the SRP for this disc is still expected to be $49.99. I'd definitely keep your eye on the Mouse in 2000. With lots of animated titles in the offing, plus better pricing, better features like anamorphic widescreen on a regular basis and more special editions, Disney DVDs may be some of the best discs out there very soon. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 12/14/99 - 11:45 AM PST) You fans of French director Luc Besson out there are gonna be happy to hear what Columbia TriStar is cooking up for you. Sources tell us that the studio is working to release not only Leon (the 26-minute longer international director's cut of The Professional) in April or May, but The Big Blue (aka Le Grand Bleu) at about the same time. The Big Blue will also be the longer director's cut of the film (specifically the 168-minute version released in France). It's still way to early to know the features, which are TBD, and the studio can only confirm that the titles are in development. But look for eventual street dates to coincide with the DVD release of The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, which is tentatively set for April. Hook, The Natural and episodes of The Larry Sanders Show are also on tap for early 2000 from the studio. In other news, Rhino has got some cool DVD plans for 2000 as well. They're releasing a bunch of TV stuff, as well as a really interesting mix of theatrical films and music titles. The TV stuff is expected to include episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, H.R. Pufnstuf, VR-5 and My Favorite Martian. Among the music titles in the works are live discs from The Ramones and The Cars. And films in development from Rhino include Galaxina, Liar's Moon, The Rutles, The Transformers Movie and Quadrophenia. Talk about a weird and wonderful mix! Stay tuned... 12/11/99 Rumors that the Indiana Jones Trilogy is being prepared for release on DVD have been circulating for some time on the Net. Our sources have been telling us that Lucasfilm was working on just such a release for at least a month (see our 11/16 Rumor Mill post). Now comes the first evidence which may support this. Image Entertainment's Laserdisc News page has quietly reported that all three of the new THX/AC3 laserdisc editions of the film, which had been in the works, have now been cancelled. What better reason to do this than to make way for stronger sales of as-yet-unannounced DVDs? We know that digital remastering was recently done for the re-release of all three films, so this makes some good sense. We've heard that March 2000 date bandied around, so we'll have to wait and see... Regarding Star Wars: Episode I on DVD, we're heard conflicting information. At least a couple of our sources have told us it's a distinct possibility, but other websites (such as Ain't It Cool News) are reporting otherwise. We're still hearing the April 4th street date for the VHS release at least. Can you imagine how much flak Lucasfilm and Fox are going to take if there's no DVD with it? Ouch. Stay tuned... 12/10/99 You fans of Independence Day can breathe a sigh of relief. We've heard from "unofficial sources" that we KNOW are in the know, and they tell us that Fox's upcoming ID4: SE DVD WILL be in full anamorphic widescreen. What's more, the majority of the studio's upcoming DVDs will include anamorphic widescreen whenever possible. That includes Fight Club. About the only confirmed non-anamorphic title in the works at the moment is The Abyss: SE (apparently at the request of Lightstorm). And look for lots more special editions from the studio next year as well. Fox is working hard to make you DVD fans out there happy, happy, happy... 12/8/99 Here's some additional just-in information on more Y2K DVDs from several of the studios, for March and April. Keep in mind this information is tentative. Let's go studio by studio... MGM We've got word that March releases from MGM on DVD are set as follows: Back to School, The End of Violence, Force 10 from Navarone, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, Mystery Train, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (re-release), Richard III, Shallow Grave and Taffin. And in April, you can tentatively expect Thunder Road, Spaceballs, Showgirls (NC-17), No Way Out, Mr. Mom, The Idolmaker, Honeymoon in Vegas, Breathless, Blue Velvet, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Molly, Flawless and Tom Sawyer (animated). And looking way ahead, you'll be happy to know that a Princess Bride: Special Edition is in the works for June... Columbia TriStar March DVDs from Columbia TriStar should include the following: Random Hearts, Cliffhanger: Special Edition, Much Ado About Nothing: Special Edition, The Bear, Who's Harry Crumb?, Bear In The Big Blue House, Vol 1, Bandits, Jacob the Liar, Hook, Indochine, Crazy in Alabama, and Bell, Book and Candle And you can tentatively expect The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and Dogma in April, and Hollywood Knights in May. Fox Here are some confirmed DVDs from Fox in April: Anywhere But Here, Fight Club, Walking with Dinosaurs. May releases will include Light it Up, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and The X-Files: Season One Gift Pack. The X-Files Season One Gift Pack is currently set for May 16th, and will include some 7 discs. It will SRP for $149.98 here in the States. Sound will be Dolby Surround in English & Spanish. The set will contain all 23 Season One episodes, including the original pilot. It will also feature 20 "behind the truth" segments (which have been seen on the FX Network), 12 interviews with Chris Carter, episode preview trailers, DVD-ROM games: Paranormal and Alien Abduction Trivia and weblinks. The Abyss: Special Edition is now set for a March 21st street date as a 2 disc set. It will run 171 minutes, and SRP for $34.98. Sound will include THX 5.1 Digital Surround (English & Spanish). Extras will include "multi-story" option (the ability to watch either the original theatrical release or the special edition with 30 minutes of added footage via seamless branching), a "video subscripture" feature (which has captions that explain how special effects were executed), 3D animated menus, a 1 hour documentary on the making of the movie, cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, concept art & still gallery, James Cameron's storyboards, DVD-ROM access to the screenplay and other bonus footage, DVD-ROM game previews for Titanic Explorer and Alien vs. Predator, original theatrical trailers and TV spots, and trailers for Aliens, True Lies and Predator. And you can finally look for that Independence Day: Special Edition on June 13th. The disc will feature 3D animated menus, and is expected to include most if not all of the content that was on the laserdisc special edition, including: audio commentary by director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin, the original bi-plane ending sequence, Creating Reality (a 30 minute making-of documentary), theatrical trailers, TV spots, storyboards, conceptual artwork and production stills. We've posted a scan of the sell sheet for both ID4 and The Abyss today, which shows the cover art, and gives another rundown of the extras, so you may want to check that out. Keep in mind that the extras may change somewhat, as it's still a bit early. Finally, I've been told that almost all of the information you've read online about the contents of the Fight Club DVD is incorrect. The telecine is currently being done and is (at this moment) still expected to be anamorphic widescreen. Also, the list of special edition materials is still being decided upon, so any list of extras that you may have seen is WAY premature. It will be at least a couple of months before things are locked down. Paramount We've mentioned before that March DVD offerings from Paramount should include True Grit, El Dorado and Cheyenne. So here's what's on tap for April: Superstar, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Dead Again, Jennifer 8, Hollywood Confidential, and Bringing Out the Dead Double Jeopardy is set for a Feburary 22nd street date. And going down the line, I'm hearing that Braveheart is still on target for May, along with a number of Elvis titles like Blue Hawaii... Buena Vista As we've posted previously, Buena Vista's March lineup will include Tarzan, Miami Rhapsody, The Color of Money and Outrageous Fortune. April should see the Tarzan: Collector's Edition, The Tie That Binds, The Mighty Ducks, and Rich Man's Wife among others. New Line New Line is currently planning to release In the Mouth of Madness on February 8th, with director's commentary. That same day, you can also expect The Hidden and The Astronaut's Wife. Artisan In addition to the Terminator 2: Judgement Day: Special Edition that Artisan is working on, they're also planning DVD-18 releases of Jesus of Nazareth and The Lonesome Dove miniseries (look for them in February or March). And Stir of Echoes is still set for February. DreamWorks DreamWorks doesn't have a LOT of titles in the works, but I've been told that they've tentatively set March 7th as the street date for American Beauty. Warner As you probably know, Warner is working to release Scooby Doo Meets The Boo Brothers and a disc of TV episodes, Scooby-Doo's Original Mysteries, in March. They're also planning Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases, which will include some 14 of their original shorts. We've also been told that Warner has set March 7th as the street date for their DVD version of the late Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. More Archived Posts Back to Current Posts
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