All right, thanks for your patience while I was away at the end of last week. My father-in-law passed away, so my wife and I flew across the country to attend his memorial and see family.

But there’s a good deal to catch up on today news-wise, so let’s get right to it. First things first...

Yes, we are aware of the rumors that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is planning to bring The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films to 4K Ultra HD. They originated on the excellent 4K Filme.de website, which (I’m told) found the titles briefly listed on a Warner B2B website for German retailers. All six films were indicated for release on UHD (with the Extended Editions included) and with a tentative street date given of June 25, 2020. All right, now let’s put this in context...

First of all, there’s no doubt that Warner Bros. is going to release these films on physical 4K Ultra HD. These are literally their most demanded catalog titles on the format. Also, 2021 is the 20th anniversary of Fellowship of the Ring. And Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings prequel series, which reportedly begins production next month and will apparently be in production for two years, is likely to debut on Amazon Prime in late 2022. So the studio is certainly going to want to get those films ready for 4K release by then. [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a quick update for you here at The Bits today, but it’s a good one...

First, Disney has just officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Toy Story 4 on 10/8, with the Digital release expected a week earlier on 10/1.

The 4K disc (and digital release) will include Dolby Atmos audio, while the Blu-ray will feature 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Expect the physical to offer HDR10 high dynamic range, while the digital 4K has Dolby Vision. Extras will include audio commentary with director Josh Cooley and his team, 4 featurettes (Toy Stories, Woody & Buzz, Bo Rebooted, and Let’s Ride with Ally Maki), a collection of mini-docs on the film’s characters called Toy Box, 6 deleted scenes with optional commentary (including Scamming Playtime, Bo Knows Hippos, Desperate Toys, Knock-Offs, Recruit Duke, and She’s the One) and more. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re waiting on a number of 4K Ultra HD review titles to come in any time now, including The Patriot, Fury, Red Sparrow, and the Jurassic Park set. While we do, we’ve got some release and announcement news for you...

First up, it appears that the official street date for Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles in 4K Ultra HD is 6/5 and not 6/12. We expect the official press release to go out any time now and we’ll post the details as soon as it does. So adjust your plans accordingly.

Also today, Shout! Factory has announced that review product for their recent Wild at Heart: Shout Select Blu-ray release had a manufacturing error that’s now being corrected for the actual retail product. This means that the street date for the title has been moved from 5/22 to 8/21. Adjust your plans accordingly. [Read on here...]

All right, the big news today is that, as we first revealed here at The Bits several weeks ago, Disney and Pixar are indeed releasing Brad Bird’s The Incredibles on 4K Ultra HD on 6/12, in support of the theatrical release of The Incredibles 2 that same week. It looks like the 4K release will include Dolby Atmos audio and will also include the Blu-ray edition with all its special features. Note that Best Buy is going to have an exclusive Steelbook version of the title. [Update: It appears that Best Buy is listing the Steelbook 4K version as streeting on 6/5. It’s possible that the wide release will be 6/5 as well, and not 6/12 as currently listed. We expect official details soon from the studio and we’ll update this information then.]

This would mark the very first time that Disney has gone back to release a deeper catalog title on the 4K format (not just a new theatrical release). Here’s hoping we see many more Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars catalog titles released in 4K soon.

Meanwhile this afternoon, our friends at The Criterion Collection have now officially announced their August slate of Blu-ray and DVD titles as follows… [Read on here...]

All right, first up today we have two more Blu-ray reviews from Tim for you, including his thoughts on Warner Archive’s Doc Hollywood and also Dragonwyck from Twilight Time. Both are worth a look. And a little later today I’ll be back with my review of Sony’s The Dark Crystal on 4K Ultra HD (I’ll add the link here when it’s up).

Now then, the BIG news this afternoon (weren’t we just talking about this yesterday?) is that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has now officially announced the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of the Wachowskis’ 1999 sci-fi/cyberpunk classic The Matrix on 5/22 (SRP $41.99). The 4K release has been produced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, a remaster supervised by the film’s director of photography, Bill Pope. The resulting image has been given HDR color grades in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, both of which will be featured on this 4K UHD release. Furthermore, the 4K release will feature Dolby Atmos object-based audio. The actual 4K disc will also include a written introduction by the Wachowskis, along with all four previously-available audio commentaries (including the Philosopher, Critics, Cast & Crew, and Composer tracks). [Read on here...]

All right… today is the President’s Day holiday here in the States, but we do have a couple of announcements for you today...

First, if our retail, industry, and studio sources are correct, Disney and Lucasfilm are expected to announce the Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and Digital release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi this week, possibly as soon as tomorrow. If and when that happens, we’ll have all the official details and cover artwork for you ASAP. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re wrapping up the week with a big title announcement and additional release news, some new disc reviews, and a few words about HDR. But first, those reviews...

Tim has just turned in his thoughts on a trio of great new Blu-ray titles, including MVD’s The Man from Earth: Special Edition, Warner Archive’s The Green Slime, and Synapse’s Suspiria: 40th Anniversary Edition Steelbook. All three packages are quite good and well worth a look, so do check them out when you have time.

Now then... let’s have that big title news: Disney and Pixar have just announced Coco for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/27, with the digital and Movies Anywhere release expected on 2/13. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release will feature HDR10 and Dolby Atmos audio, while the 4K digital release will feature HDR10 or Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos audio. The Blu-ray will feature English 7.1 DTS-HD MA. [Read on here…]

Big news today, Bits readers! But first, some local business...

Our very own Tim Salmons has turned in a pair of new Blu-ray reviews, featuring Carl Reiner’s comedy classic The Man with Two Brains now available on disc from the Warner Archive, and also the ooky-gooey Italian terror of Joe D’Amato’s Beyond the Darkness from Severin Films. Do give them both a look. (But if you’re barf-sensitive, the latter might be a test of your constitution. FYI.)

Also here today, Russell Hammond has posted the weekly update of the Release Dates & Cover Artwork section, featuring all of the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it! [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

All right, we’ve got some good reviews coming next week, so be sure to check back for that.

Meanwhile today, the big release news is that Disney and Pixar have officially set Inside Out for Blu-ray 3D Combo and Blu-ray Combo release on 11/3, with the digital release set for 10/13. The Blu-ray will include the exclusive Riley’s First Date? animated short film, as well as the LAVA theatrical short film. Other extras will include 7 featurettes (Story of the Story, Paths to Pixar: The Women of Inside Out, Mixed Emotions, Mapping the Mind, Our Dads, the Filmmakers, Into the Unknown: The Sound of Inside Out, and The Misunderstood Art of Animation Film Editing), 4 deleted scenes (Riley Grows Up, Joy’s Decline, Misdirection, and Construction), audio commentary with directors Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen, and producer Jonas Rivera, the Mind Candy toolkit/interstitials montage, and trailers.  [Read on here…]

Afternoon, folks!  Let’s run down some today’s announcement news...

Lionsgate has officially announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of Mad Men: Season Six on 11/5 (SRP $49.97 and $49.98).  Extras will include 6 featurettes (Design of a Decade, Recreating an Era, Gay Power!, Gay Pride!, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out and Summer of Love Archives) and more TBA.  Love the cover artwork – you can see it below.

Also CBS has announced that they’ll release Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five on Blu-ray Disc on 11/19 (SRP $129.99).  It will include all 26 episodes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, episode promos and all the previous DVD features, another multi-part documentary (Requiem: A Remembrance of Star Trek: The Next Generation) and the In Conversation: The Klingons and What He Left Behind: The Roddenberry Legacy featurettes.

Also coming from CBS on 11/19 is Star Trek: The Next Generation – Unification (SRP $28.28), which (as was the case with The Best of Both Worlds and Redemption) will feature the 2-part episode edited into a movie version along with a new exclusive documentary called From One Generation to the Next.  You’ll find the cover art for both of these titles below as well.  [...]