Now then... European retail sources are reporting that Disney and Pixar’s Soul will arrive on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 3/30. Word from retail sources on this side of the Atlantic is that the US street date is expected to be 3/23. You’ll find the US and UK temp cover artwork for that below as well (the UK cover art links to Zavvi—click here for that—and we’ll add the US pre-order link when it becomes available). Note that this title has not yet been officially announced by Disney, but we expect that to happen soon.

Speaking of Disney, here’s a complete surprise: The studio appears to be preparing for the 4K Ultra HD release of two additional 20th Century Fox catalog titles in May: Heat and Speed. Both are currently set for release in Germany on 5/27 via the online retailer Jpc.de (click here and here to see that). We don’t yet have official confirmation of a US release by Disney, nor do we have an expected street date, but two of our own industry and retail sources have now confirmed that they are coming to 4K in the US likely in May as well. We’ve included the German 4K cover art below. There has been US cover art circulating today, but it appears to be fan-made. We’ll post more (and official cover art) as soon as we have it from our sources.

The interesting thing about this is, it appears that Disney hasn’t completely given up the ghost on 4K physical media. So hopefully more such titles will follow, especially from the Fox catalog. And Disney, if you guys are reading this, high on the list of additional 4K catalog releases should be: Kingdom of Heaven, Aliens, Master and Commander, True Lies, and The Abyss.

All right, moving on... we’re also tracking a few additional Universal 4K Ultra HD catalog titles tentatively expected in May via our retail sources on both sides of the Atlantic. They include An American Werewolf in London, National Lampoon’s Animal House, Shrek, and The Sting (1974). Again, consider these tentative until Universal makes official announcements or you start seeing them go up for pre-order online.

We’ll post additional details on all of the titles above as they come in. But note that we’ve added them to our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly.

In terms of official announcements, Paramount has confirmed the Blu-ray release of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth for release on 3/30 as part of their Paramount Presents line-up. This is restored from a 4K scan of the original negative. Extras are expected to include a new Filmmaker Focus with Leonard Maltin.

Paramount has also set a Best Picture Essentials 10-Movie Collection for Blu-ray release on 3/23. The package will include Wings (1927), My Fair Lady (1964), The Godfather (1972), Terms of Endearment (1983), Forrest Gump (1994), The English Patient (1996), Titanic (1997), American Beauty (1999), Gladiator (2000), and No Country For Old Men (2007). These are the existing BD releases repackaged.

Also today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has set The Alienist: Angel of Darkness for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/18. All 8 episodes will be included, along with 5 featurettes (Inside the Alienist: Building the World, Walking the Set 2.0 with Luke Evans, Kreizler Season 1 Recap, Dressing a Modern Woman, and Series Overview).

RLJE Films will release Scare Me on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/2. They also have Random Acts of Violence set for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 2/16.

And Universal has officially set The Croods: A New Age for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/23. The 4K release will include Dolby Vision and HDR10, plus Dolby Atmos audio.

Finally this afternoon, we’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actor Hal Holbrook. Holbrook reportedly passed away a week ago (on 1/23) at his home in California. His feature work includes All the President’s Men, Midway, Capricorn One, Wall Street, Fletch Lives, The Majestic, Into the Wild, and Lincoln. He was a regular fixture on the small screen as well in the 1970s and 80s, including North and South, Designing Women, and Evening Shade. He’s also well known for portraying Mark Twain on stage. Holbrook was 95. You can read more on his life and legacy here at The New York Times.

All right, we’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for a number of the titles mentioned above, with such pre-order links as may be available at the moment (which is not much, but we’ll share official links as they go live)...

That’s all for now. Stay tuned...

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