Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice Blu-ray And DVD Release Date Erroneously Reported As July 16 — Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Says Definitly Not July 16

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will “definitely not” be released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 16, so says a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.   Period.

Despite stinging reviews from the major market media critics, director Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had an eye-popping opening weekend of over $170 million.   Since Superman is bulletproof, so too is any movie that features him … so much for the critics and their opinions.

Simultaneously with the release of the film in theatres nationwide, Mark Hughes at Forbes (Magazine) trumpeted a home entertainment launch on July 16 that would include an “Ultimate Cut” — meaning an “R-rated” version — of the film.

Mark Hughes has subsequently revised his online piece.   Link here: Forbes - Mark Hughes

While we suspect that future release dates for major new theatrical releases are being inadvertently triggered these days by VOD/HD release agreements, which trigger online retailers — such as amazon.com — to start taking orders, we suspected that Hughes claim of a July 16 launch date was in error (while likely to be in the ballpark).

July 16 is a Saturday.   We’re not saying that he just grabbed that particular date out of his hat — we could accept July 12, July 15 (a Friday) or July 19 — but unless Warner Bros. Home Entertainment had some national retail event under wraps, which they’ve denied, a Saturday launch would be news indeed. 

A close reading of Hughes’ piece — which has been accepted online as gospel and repeated over and over again — doesn’t offer any source for his “official street date” pronouncement.   Indeed, he refers to the November 2009 “Ultimate Cut” of director Zack Snyder’s Watchman as an example of the type of treatment that a similar presentation of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice could follow — not anything in particular from Warner Bros.   So that much appears to have been speculation, however Snyder himself has confirmed publicly that something is in the works (a ton of extra material is available).

Also missing from the Forbes piece is any reference to the newly launched 4K Ultra HD format of which Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is an early proponent.   Clearly, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would be a prime candidate for 4K Ultra HD treatment.

What is more reasonable is that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release DVD, Blu-ray and perhaps 4K Ultra HD SKUs in July (the window would be in line with current studio release patterns) and then follow up during the Christmas selling season with an “Ultimate” edition of the film.   That’s the pattern followed for Watchman.

In other release news, which has been confirmed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, a pair of Clint Eastwood films will be making their Blu-ray debut on May 3.   These are City Heat (1984, directed by Richard Benjamin and co-starring Burt Reynolds) and his 1999 film adaptation of Andrew Klavan’s novel, True Crime.