Monday, July 2, 2018

Arrow Video Restores Director Fred Zinnemann's The Day Of The Jackal For Blu-ray Release On Sept. 25


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, sets a long-lead for the Blu-ray debut of director Fred Zinnemann’s summer of 1973 film adaptation of Frederick Forsyth best-selling thriller, The Day of the Jackal.   

The street date selected by Arrow Video is Sept. 25.

This amazing thriller about an attempted assassination of French President Charles de Gaulle was based on a book that no one wanted to publish.   Rejected!  Rejected!  Four times, by major publishers, rejected!

Finally, when it was published it was a monster!   Naturally, a film needed to be made and director Fred Zinnemann (Best Director for A Man for All Seasons and From Here to Eternity … plus nominations for Julia, The Sundowners, The Nun’s Story, High Noon and The Search) landed the directing assignment, with production by Oscar-winner John Woolf (Best Picture-winner for Oliver! … also nominated from his production of Room at the Top).

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyForsyth did a draft adaptation of his novel, which was ultimately taken over for a rewrite by Kenneth Ross (The Odessa File, Black Sunday, The Jackal, etc.).  Meanwhile, Universal Pictures first thought was to have a high-profile American actor play the Jackal, which saw discussions with both Robert Redford and Jack Nicholson, but ultimately it was decided to stick with the French-English tie-in outline in Forsyth’s novel.

Edward Fox (Gandhi, A Bridge Too Far, A Doll's House, The Go-Between, etc.) was ultimately chosen for the role of the British assassin, which was inspired.   As they say, the rest is history.

Bonus Materials include a newly-prepared video session with Neil Sinyard, author of “Fred Zinnemann: Films of Character and Conscience” and two archival clips from the film set, which include an interview with filmmaker Fred Zinnemann.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey




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