Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Selects Dec. 9 For DVD And Blu-ray Combo Pack Editions Of Filmmaker Charles Martin Smith's Dolphin Tale 2

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced this past week that actor-turned-filmmaker Charles Martin Smith’s Dolphin Tale 2, the successful follow-up to his feel-good 2011 hit, Dolphin Tale, will be available as DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with UltraViolet) selections on Dec. 9.

The ARR is a zippy 88 days and the box office take was a very nice $40.8 million.

This particular street date came as a something of a surprise as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment had laid claim to this prime bit of pre-Christmas real estate several weeks ago with the summer blockbuster, Guardians of the Galaxy.

That was like a big “Keep Off of the Turf” warning sign.   And indeed, just a few years ago elbowing in on the action once the so-called “Disney” brand had selected a prime Christmas-selling season date by any other studio would have been a fool’s game.  

But sadly, the home entertainment crew just down the street from Warner Bros. these days has lost quite a bit of its former marketing snap and savvy … so for this speedy dolphin this will be pretty much like making circles around a beached whale (metaphorically-speaking) as it takes in more than its fair share of the sales pie on this lucrative December date.

Only some bureaucrat could come up with a reason to toss the scrappy Winter — the tailless dolphin rescued by Dr. Haskett (Harry Connick, Jr.) in the first film — out of its safe harbor at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.   So it falls to her friends to find a companion to satisfy USDA rules … and that quest is the focus of this heartfelt sequel.   

Bonus features include a blooper reel, a pair of music videos and five featurettes — “Underwater Magic,” “Dolphin Tale 2: True Story,” “Look Who's Running the Show,” “Bethany Hamilton Meets Winter” and “The Mission.”

The following week, Dec. 16, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is back with director Shawn Levy’s film presentations of the Jonathan Tropper novel (who also wrote the screenplay), This is Where I Leave You.   DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with UltraViolet) editions are planned.

The ARR is also just 88 days and domestic ticket sales currently stand at $33.2 million.

This “dramedy” stars Jason Bateman as Judd, who has to come to terms with a cheating wife (Abigail Spencer), the burial of his recently deceased father and the battles that have raged over the years with his siblings.   It only makes it all the worse for him that his mother (played by Jane Fonda) wants her children (Corey Stoll, Adam Driver and Tina Fey) to spend a week with her to celebrate the life of their late father.   There is a lot of history to overcome!!!

Bonus features for This is Where I Leave You include commentary with Shawn Levy and Jonathan Tropper, deleted scenes and two featurettes — “The Gospel According to Rabbi Boner” and “Points of Departure.”