Displaying items by tag: 20th Century Fox

Regarding the Disney/Sony physical media news that we broke this morning on The Digital Bits (link here), we’ve learned the following additional information from our industry sources:

• Once again, we’ve confirmed that Disney is indeed in the process of transitioning to a licensed physical media distribution model via an agreement with Sony Entertainment.

• As part of this deal, Sony will market, sell, and distribute new Disney releases plus catalog titles on physical media (4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, etc.) to consumers through retailers and distributors in the U.S. and Canada.

• This shift is consistent with other strategies that Disney is working to implement company-wide, as exemplified by the company’s recent transitions in other markets.

• Per usual, Disney regularly evaluates their approach to the physical media market as the home entertainment business and industry at large continue to rapidly evolve alongside consumer behavior.

This update is continued below the break... [Read on here...]

There are some significant developments happening within the home video industry of late, developments that I’ve been spending a lot of time investigating and really digging into these past few weeks here at The Digital Bits.

And I can now confidently report that one of them is this:

Disney and Sony have just inked a major deal for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to take over all of Disney’s physical media production going forward.

This means that Sony will handle and oversee the actual authoring and compression of discs, that they’ll work with the replicators and packaging vendors, and that they’ll oversee the titles as they go out to the distributors and on to retailers.

I first received word of this deal about two weeks ago, apparently within twenty-four hours of the ink drying, and I’ve now confirmed it with multiple independent sources within the industry—people that I trust and have known and worked with for many years.

This deal makes sense for Disney for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Sony is far more efficient and cost effective at producing their discs, whereas Disney’s physical media operation has been subject to no small amount of internal/organizational turmoil recently. [Read on here...]

Afternoon, folks!

This is just a quick and rare weekend My Two Cents here at The Bits in celebration of the fact that today marks a major movie anniversary: 43 years ago today, The Empire Strikes Back was released into theaters!

As many of you can attest firsthand, the event was certainly life changing for all those of us who were there to experience it as teenagers.

And to celebrate the occasion, I’d like to call your attention to a trio of great History, Legacy & Showmanship columns here at The Bits written by our own Michael Coate:

Empire @ 40: Remembering the Early 70mm Cut from 12/21/20.

Betting the Ranch: Remembering "The Empire Strikes Back" on its 40th Anniversary from 5/21/20.

The Force Defeated: Remembering "The Empire Strikes Back" on its 35th Anniversary from 5/21/15.

But that’s not all! [Read on here...]

Today’s My Two Cents update begins as always with more new disc reviews...

Tim and I have taken a look at Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ new 4K Ultra HD upgrade of the classic Joseph Sargent heist thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), which stars Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. Among other things, it’s a great New York City movie and if you’ve ever wondered where director Quentin Tarantino got the idea for his character names in Reservoir Dogs, look no further.

Also today, we’ve gone in-depth on Via Vision’s new Dirty Dancing: Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD release, which takes Lionsgate’s already fine remastering work on the title and adds a few more extras via their own exclusive bonus Blu-ray Disc.

And Tim has also reviewed Bob Clark’s Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things: 50th Anniversary Edition in 4K Ultra HD from VCI Entertainment, which includes a new 4K scan and remaster but only Standard Dynamic Range, as well as Nico Mastorakis’s Nightmare at Noon (1988) on Blu-ray from our friends at Arrow Video.

More reviews are on the way tomorrow and beyond, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

All right, obviously we broken some significant news over the weekend, namely that director James Cameron has confirmed to a French reporter (during the PR push for Avatar: The Way of Water) that The Abyss is finally coming to 4K Ultra HD by March of next year. (See our reporting on this yesterday here at The Bits. The director also mentioned The Abyss in an interview with Space.com last year). So rest assured we’ll post more details as soon as we have them.

In the meantime, we have some more great 4K catalog news to share with you today, as well as new disc reviews. So let’s start with the latter first, as always...

On Friday evening, I posted my in-depth review of Phil Tippett’s stunning stop-motion magnum opus Mad God on limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray from the folks at Shudder. The film is just astonishing. It’s really something—definitely not for all tastes, but boy is it something to see.

I also posted my review of the John Krasinski TV actioner Jack Ryan: Season One in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount. Both that and Season Two are being released in UHD in anticipation of the debut of Season Three on Amazon Prime on 12/21. And the picture quality is stunning.

Tim has also reviewed another Amazon Original on Blu-ray from Paramount, specifically Reacher: Season One which also has tremendous image quality. It’s also available in 4K and soon as we have our hands on that (and Jack Ryan: Season Two in 4K), we’ll post the reviews here.

In addition, Tim has reviewed a pair of new Scream Factory 4K Ultra HD titles, including Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) and Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974).

And I’m not kidding when I say that we have a lot more Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews coming over the next week or two, so be sure to check back for them. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a brief update for you this morning here at The Bits, but it’s an important one.

In the wake of Disney’s announcement Wednesday of their plans to release Jan de Bont’s Speed (1994) in 4K Ultra HD on 5/4, which is a 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) catalog title, there have been a number of questions raised.

The official press release seemed to indicate that the Digital version of the film in 4K would include object-based Dolby Atmos audio, but the actual physical 4K Ultra HD disc would not.

There have also been rumors that the title would not include HDR, or that the studio would only include HDR on the Digital release.

As you can imagine, I decided to cut through the confusion to ask the studio about this directly. I’ve now heard back, so here are the official confirmed details on this release… [Read on here...]

We have some good breaking release news to cover today here at The Bits. First though, we’ve got more new disc reviews for you...

Tim has given Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me (1971) a look, as recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And I’ve just posted my thoughts on Andrew Niccol’s neo-noir, science fiction classic GATTACA (1997), which is coming next week on 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film looks and sounds every bit as good as you’d hope, so don’t miss it.

Now then, the big news today is that Disney has officially confirmed the much-anticipated 4K Ultra HD release of director Jan de Bont’s Speed (1994) on 5/4. Mastered from a recent 4K scan, the disc will include a new Dolby Atmos sound mix along with high dynamic range in HDR10 format. [Editor’s Note: Disney’s press materials now suggest that only the Digital 4K will have Atmos. We’ve asked the studio for official confirmation and will post an update here when we hear back.]

Perhaps most interestingly, it appears that at least some of the extras from Fox’s 2002 Five Star Collection DVD are being carried over—many of these were omitted from the previous Fox Blu-ray release. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today. But first more new disc reviews...

Dennis has taken a look at Jacob Chase’s Come Play (2020) on Blu-ray from Universal.

And Tim has given Mario Landi’s Patrick Still Lives (1980) a spin on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Watch for more reviews in the next few days.

Now then, we’ve got BIG 4K Ultra HD news for you today, some of it official and most of it unofficial but tentatively confirmed by our various industry and retail sources. So let’s get right into it...

First up, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially set Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (2014) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 3/23. It will feature HDR10 high dynamic range with Dolby Atmos audio. It will also include the previously released special features, among them the 3-part MONARCH Declassified documentary and the 4-part The Legendary Godzilla documentary. You can see the official cover artwork above left and also below. [Read on here...]

“Patton is the best epic bio pic ever produced.” — Steven Jay Rubin, author of Combat Films: American Realism, 1945-2010

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Patton, the Best Picture-winning biopic of General George S. Patton starring George C. Scott (Dr. Strangelove, The Exorcist III) in the title role.

Patton — directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Papillon) and which also starred Karl Malden (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Streets of San Francisco TV series) as General Omar N. Bradley — opened 50 years ago this month. For the occasion, The Bits features an historical reference listing of the film’s major-market roadshow engagements and a Q&A with film historian Steven Jay Rubin, who reflects on the film five decades after its debut. [Read on here...]

All right, we have some big release news for you today...

But first, we’ve got more new Blu-ray Disc reviews for you to enjoy, including...

Dennis’ look at Rian Johnson’s Brick (2005), newly released on Blu-ray Disc by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Tim’s take on John Frankenheimer’s Prophecy (1979) from Scream Factory.

And more reviews are coming tomorrow too, so be sure to stay tuned for those.

Now then, the big news today is that the Warner Archive Collection has officially announced the details of their Tex Avery Screwball Classics, Volume 1 Blu-ray! [Read on here...]