In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially set The Matrix Trilogy for release on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Digital on 10/30, along with single-film SKUs of both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions in 4K. Like the original Matrix, expect the sequels to include both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos object-based audio. Once again, the new transfers have been scanned from the original camera negative and the 4K remasters have been supervised by director of photography Bill Pope. The Blu-rays included in the package will feature the new scan as well.
Extras on The Matrix Reloaded will include the In-Movie Experience, a written introduction by The Wachowskis, the “Critic” and “Philosopher” commentaries, Behind The Matrix, Car Chase, Teahouse Fight, Unplugged, I’ll Handle Them, The Exiles, Enter The Matrix: The Game, Enter The Matrix, POD’s Sleeping Awake music video, the theatrical trailer, and TV spots.
Extras on The Matrix Revolutions will include the In-Movie Experience, a written introduction by The Wachowskis, the “Critic” and “Philosopher” commentaries, Behind The Matrix, Crew, Hel, New Blue World, Siege, Aftermath, the theatrical trailer, and TV spots.
At this time, it does not appear that The Animatrix will be included, so you’ll probably want to keep your existing Blu-ray and/or DVD sets. We’ll confirm the complete list of extras when we get our hands on the discs and post our review.
Warner has also set DCU: Justice League – Throne of Atlantis for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 11/13.
In other news, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Stefano Sollima’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado on 10/2, with the Digital release expected on 9/18. The 4K disc will feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. All versions will include 3 featurettes (From Film to Franchise: Continuing the Story, An Act of War: Making Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and The Assassin and the Soldier: The Cast & Characters).
Sony has also announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Steven Spielberg’s Hook on 10/9, as we expected. The film has been scanned and restored from the original camera negative and features Dolby Atmos audio. It also appears that the set will include 11 never-before-seen deleted scenes.
And retail sources suggest that Sony will release their CG-animated Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 10/9.
Meanwhile, according to our retail sources, Paramount’s next 4K Ultra HD release will be Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island sometime in October.
Fox’s X-Men Trilogy appears to be set for 4K Ultra HD release on 9/25, including the original X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand.
And one more bit of 4K news... several weeks ago, we noted in our 4K Ultra HD Release List that Ridley Scott’s Alien was likely to be released in 4K UHD next year, as 2019 marks the film’s 40th anniversary. We also know that a new 4K scan was recently completed and approved by the director. Now we’re starting to see the first indications from retailers of the release, which – according to the Czech retailer Film Arena – is set for May and will include both the theatrical and director’s cuts. That makes sense; the film was originally released theatrically on 5/25. We’ll watch for official news from Fox on this, but it appears that the film is definitely coming.
Now then... here’s something cool if you’re a fan of American Graffiti: The sequel, More American Graffiti, was released on Blu-ray for the first time last month. Don’t know how we missed it, but you can see the cover art (with Amazon link) below.
Well Go USA has confirmed the 9/18 stand-alone Blu-ray release of Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion, each with audio commentary, a featurette, and a trailer.
A number of you have asked us about the status of Shout! and Scream Factory’s planned Blu-ray release of The Plague Dogs (1982), the sequel to Watership Down. We’ve learned that the title has simply been delayed, not cancelled, and that there’s good reason for this which should make the disc better when it’s finally released. So watch Shout’s official Facebook page for updates on this.
Here’s a nice surprise on the TV front: CBS and Paramount have announced that they’re brining Charmed: The Complete First Season and MacGyver: The Complete First Season to Blu-ray on 10/30. You can pre-order them on Amazon by clicking on the title links.
And finally today, our own Tim Salmons has completed a few new Talking Blu with The Digital Bits episodes for you guys to check out. Here’s the first (and more to come tomorrow)...
We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for a few of the titles mentioned above and more. Click on the images to pre-order them on Amazon, if available...
Back tomorrow. Stay tuned...
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)