With Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release moves these
past few weeks it became clear that director David Yates’ The Legend of Tarzan
would likely get an early October home entertainment release window. This speculation was confirmed this past
week with news that Oct. 11 has been selected as the street date for a four-SKU
helping of this early summer theatrical hit.
The ARR works out to 102 days and ticket sales for this
interesting spin on the Tarzan/Lord Greystoke stories, originally penned by Edgar
Rice Burroughs (beginning in 1912), pulled in $124.9 million.
Planned for release are a 4K Ultra HD edition, two
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs (one with a 3D viewing option … the premium is nine
dollars) and a stand-alone DVD SKU.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment dropped the first of their
$100 million-plus box office hits, Conjuring 2, on Sept. 13, which was
followed by Central Intelligence on Sept. 27 — two weeks apart — so the
Oct. 11 street date for The Legend of Tarzan is right in
line with this skip-a-week release pattern … this leaves room for
writer/director David F. Sandberg’s horror hit, Lights Out, to be
available for the home entertainment market place in time for Halloween.
True Blood’s Eric Northman, Alexander Skarsgård (Battleship,
Straw Dogs, Hidden, etc.), is the new Tarzan, while Suicide
Squad’s Harley, Margot Robbie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, The
Wolf of Wall Street, etc.) is his mate, Jane. Others in the cast include Tarantino’s
favorite villain, Christoph Waltz — who plays just that, the villain — and
Samuel L. Jackson as an American diplomat/detective who is out to uncover a
slave-running plot being fashioned by King Leopold of Belgium.
The film stands on its own as a member of the notable Tarzan
film entries, beginning with Elmo Lincoln’s Tarzan of the Apes in
1918; Johnny Weissmüller as the most famous Tarzan, starring in a dozen films;
Lex Barker for five; Gordon Scott for a half-dozen and Christopher Lambert in
director Hugh Hudson’s 1984 film release of Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,
Lord of the Apes (which is actually a pretty good double-bill with this
new entry).
As to bonus goodies, all release version include five
production featurettes — “Tarzan Reborn,” “Battles and Bare Knuckled Brawls,”
“Tarzan and Jane’s Unfailing Love,” “Creating the Virtual Jungle” and “Gabon to
the Big Screen” — and a PSA titled “Stop Ivory.”
In other release news this week from Warner Bros. Home
Entertainment, Sept. 20 will see a Blu-ray promotion for three Stephen
King-inspired productions getting new Hi-Def transfers.
Included in the mix is director Tobe Hooper’s 1979 two-part
mini-series, Salem’s Lot. It arrives
with a newly-prepared commentary track from filmmaker Tobe Hooper (he would
later adapt King’s short story, The Mangler, for theatrical release
in 1995).
Director Lewis Teague’s 1985 film adaptation of Cat’s
Eye, starring Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, Robert Hays and
Candy Clark. Included as a bonus
feature is commentary from filmmaker Lewis Teague (he also directed the film
adaptation of Stephen King’s Cujo in 1983).
And the third entry in this Stephen King Blu-ray promotion
on Sept. 20 is the 1990 two-part mini-series, It, directed by Tommy Lee
Wallace. The bonus feature with It
is commentary from Tommy Lee Wallace, who is joined by actors Dennis
Christopher, Tim Reid, John Ritter and Richard Thomas.
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