Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Goes With Aug. 11 As The Street Date For DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Editions Of Reese Witherspoon's Hot Pursuit

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment was at it again this week with more announcements of film vault treasures making their long-awaited march to DVD, plus details about the DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack push for director Anne Fletcher’s action-comedy, Hot Pursuit.

First the new comedy theatrical release of Hot Pursuit, starring Reese Witherspoon as Rose Cooper, a San Antonio police officer with a penchant for screwing everything up.   The street date is Aug. 11, which yields a swift-to-market 95 days.   Ticket sales were descent at $32.3 million.

Her latest misfire, the tasing of the mayor’s son for calling “shotgun,” has put her dangerously close to being on the street.  However, redemption is at hand as she is given one last opportunity to show that she is up to the job.  It is simple enough, just help detective Jackson (Richard T. Jones) bring in cooperating mob informants Felipe and Daniella Riva (Sofía Vergara).   

Aaaaahhh, that went well!!   OK, in all fairness it wasn’t her fault, but everything went south and poor Rose finds herself on the run with the ditzy Daniella … with double-crossing cops the least of her problems!

Reese Witherspoon, fresh from a much-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination for Wild (she was robbed), seems to be all over the board with her film choices of late.  While Hot Pursuit is funny and enjoyable enough, it really doesn’t advance her film career.

In any case, bonus nuggets include the featurette titled “The Womance,” with two additional featurettes — “Say What?” and “Action Like A Lady” — plus an alternate ending being exclusive to the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack SKU.

On the TV series front, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced this past week that both DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Following: The Third and Final Season has been given an Oct. 13 street date.

All 15 episodes from the final season of this Kevin Bacon thriller will be presented as a four-disc DVD collection or as a three-disc Blu-ray set.  Bonus features include four featurettes —  “When Heroes Lie,” “Evil Has Many Faces,” “Ryan and Romance” and “The Art of the Crime Scene” — a gag reel, deleted scenes and video from the 2014 New York Comic-Con Panel. 

On the film vault release front, July 21 is the street date for four-disc, 12-film collection showcasing the films of Big Band-era singer-turned-actor Dick Foran.  Titled Dick Foran Western Collection, the 12 films in the mix are: Moonlight on the Prairie (1935 with Sheila Bromley), and four of his Westerns from his very busy film work year of 1936 — Song of the Saddle (released just weeks after his appearance in The Petrified Forest as Boze Hertzlinger), Treachery Rides the Range (also-starring Paula Stone), Trailin' West (reteamed with Paula Stone just four months later) and California Mail (Thanksgiving of 1936 with Linda Perry).

From 1937, another very busy year for Dick Foran, we have Guns of the Pecos (opposite Land Beyond the Law (Linda Perry returns), The Cherokee Strip (Jane Bryan and Helen Valkis (aka: Joan Valerie) are his co-stars), Blazing Sixes (reteamed with Helen Valkis), Empty Holsters (with newcomer Patricia Walthall), The Devil's Saddle Legion (Anne Nagel returns) and lastly, Prairie Thunder (with Ellen Clancy (aka: Janet Shaw)).

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On July 28, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has added three new Wallace Beery films — all co-starring Marjorie Main — to its DVD release schedule.  These are: Barnacle Bill (1941, Virginia Weidler) Bad Bascomb (1946, Margaret O'Brien) and Big Jack (1949, Richard Conte, Edward Arnold and Vanessa Brown).

And finally — for this week — Warner Bros. used the Comic-Con venue to tease a re-mastered, extended edition of the 1999 film release of The Iron Giant, which will be seen in theatres this fall thanks to a partnership with Fathom Events, with the studio offering the updated version of the film via digital outlets following the Sept. 30 and Oct. 4 theatrical showings.

“We can’t wait to bring this family favorite back to its home on the big screen,” said Fathom Events CEO John Rubey. “The Iron Giant is meant to be seen and heard in movie theatres and this is a great chance for fans new and old to enjoy this classic, re-mastered with new scenes.”