NBCUniversal’s Fandango to purchase Vudu, plus a poll: Who wants Star Trek II in physical 4K?

Monday, 20 April 2020 19:21

NBCUniversal’s Fandango to purchase Vudu, plus a poll: Who wants Star Trek II in physical 4K?

by Bill Hunt

All right, we’ve got a couple things to report today...

First up, NBCUniversal’s Fandango service is going to purchase Vudu from Walmart, according to reports in the trades today (see this link at Variety). This is interesting and it doesn’t surprise me. I expect there will be lots of consolidation in the Digital space in the months and years ahead, and I also expect every major studio to try and grow their own footprint in the digital space or to team up with others who have. And of course the Digital category includes not just streaming/subscription services but transactional purchases too. So it makes a lot of sense.

Also today, I’ve been invited—and have just begun—to check out the high-end digital movie service Kaleidescape. I’ll have more on that experience here at The Digital Bits in a few weeks, after I’ve really given it a thorough test and tryout. [Read on here...]

But the reason I mention it now, is that—through Kaleidescape—I’ve finally gotten my first look at Paramount’s stunning new 4K restoration of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Director’s Edition with high dynamic range. And DAAAAAAAMMMNNNN is it pretty! Never in my life have I seen the film looking so good as it does here.

Of course, Paramount has released a Blu-ray mastered from this new restoration and it’s exquisite—a major improvement over their original Blu-ray. The studio has also made this 4K presentation available digitally. But so far, there’s been no physical 4K Ultra HD release. I have a feeling it’s coming... eventually. But in the meantime, I wanted to do a little market research with you, our regular Digital Bits readership.

Are you interested in a physical 4K Ultra HD upgrade of The Wrath of Khan? Or is Blu-ray good enough for you. Please weigh in on the question by voting here on my Twitter page—I’ve posted a poll there which will be live for the next 24 hours (and feel free to follow me there on Twitter as well). I just kind of wanted to take the temperature of the audience, so to speak.

Of course, this poll is just about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Believe me, I KNOW that all of you want all the other films too, especially the Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition. I believe that is coming too... eventually. But the Trek II 4K master is already done and waiting. I wanted to see what demand might be like for it among you, the home theater, Blu-ray, 4K, and Star Trek enthusiasts crowd. So please weigh in.

All right, that’s all for now. Back tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

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NBCUniversal’s Fandango to purchase Vudu, plus a poll: Who wants Star Trek II in physical 4K?

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