Sunday, January 13, 2019

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Sets Dates For The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Jan. 29) And Mary Poppins Returns (Mar. 19)


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment apparently doesn’t need pre-book windows any longer as the official press announcement came on Monday, Jan. 7 for a Jan. 29 release date for the directing team of Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.

The ARR is just 88 days, which suggests (coupled with the short solicitation window) that Disney is cutting their loses on this one and preparing the decks for more important theatrical-to-home entertainment product launches.   Box office receipts were $54.7 million (compared to published film production cost easily twice that … and that is before P&A costs).

Planned for release are combo packs for Blu-ray/DVD and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray configurations, as well as a stand-alone DVD edition.

Bonus features for The Nutcracker and the Four Realms include deleted scenes, a pair of featurettes — “On Pointe: A Conversation with Misty Copeland” and “Unwrapping The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” — and two music videos, “Fall on Me” (the duet of Andrea and Matteo Bocelli) and Lang Lang’s presentation of “The Nutcracker Suite.”

No sooner had we completed the above comments on the quick-to-market release news for The Nutcracker and the Four Realms — and filed it away for publication — when Best Buy and Target began posting “special edition” pre-book solicitations for director Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
We still haven’t seen an official press announcement from Walt Disney Home Entertainment — which is typical when they get into crisis mode — but Best Buy and Target say that Mary Poppins Returns is set for its home entertainment rollout on Mar. 19, so we are taking them at their word.

The ARR is just 88 days, which suggests that the PR group will make an official announcement after the traditional pre-book date comes and goes.   Box office receipts improved dramatically after a sluggish start and now stand at a solid $138.8 million.

Planned for release are 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs, plus a stand-alone DVD edition.   Bonus features?   That is anyone’s guess at this point.

Also on the 4K Ultra HD release calendar from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is Feb. 26 release of The Little Mermaid: 30th Anniversary Edition.   There will be Combo Packs for both the 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD) packaged media formats.

New bonus nuggets include a “Sing-Along Mode” viewing option, a quartet of new featurettes — “Alan Menken & the Leading Ladies Song,” “What I Want From You…Is YOUR VOICE,” “Stories From Walt’s Office: Gadgets & Gizmos” and “#TreasuresUntold” — and the music video titled “Part of Your World,” 

Vintage bonus features include commentary from Ron Clements, John Musker and Alan Menken and three featurettes — “Deleted Character: Harold The Merman,” “Under the Scene: The Art of Live Action Reference” and “Howard’s Lecture.”

No comments:

Post a Comment