Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Locks In May 26 For A Three-SKU Helping Of Writer/Director Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
That’s all folks!  Done.  With the announcement this past week from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment the cupboard is now empty. 
 
When writer/director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, starring Elisabeth Moss (as June in The Handmaid's Tale, plus such series as The West Wing and Mad Men) hits the street on May 26 — as a three-SKU product offering — there will be no more films left to release that have grossed at least $25 million in their respective theatrical runs.   

Why $25 million?   That is the threshold for “hit” status and it has nothing to do with profit or loss on a production — you can find plenty of examples where a film grossed in excess of $25 million and lost money.   No, it is more about consumer awareness and that takes a nationwide break, backed by a significant advertising and promotional campaign and the film has to stick around long enough (weeks in release) to get to that level (a weak Friday opening and screens are lost or downsized and even a wide break can get truncated very quickly).

Theatres nationwide shutdown on Mar. 20 and this is the last film with the $25million plus profile from the pre-shelter-in-place period to get a street date.   

For the record, the ARR is 88 days and the box office take, which abruptly ended with the shuttering of some 40,000 screens nationwide, finished off at $64.3 million.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyWay, way back in 1997, we waited and waited for the first “new” theatrical film, with that profile (a minimum of $25 million in box office receipts), to materialize on the new DVD format.   DVDs had started to be released in March of that year, but it wasn’t until July 8 that the first two “new” theatrical releases arrived … Absolute Power ($50.0 million) and Vegas Vacation ($36.4 million), both from Warner Bros. and both with ARR profiles of 144 days. 

In the years that have followed, over 24 years (plus a few extra weeks), it became a given that films would open in theatres, fall into certain box office categories ($100 million plus, $25 million, $10 million, etc.), and then march out in their own good time to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace.   That run ends on May 26.    

Sure, there are films with lesser ticket sales still in inventory, even some from the launch year of the format (1997) that have never been released on DVD, but all of the high profile entries are gone … gone … gone.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyIt won’t be until theatres reopen and new films start generating ticket sales that we will have new films with this profile.   Theatres could open by the July 4th weekend … maybe Labor Day.   Best case, sometime in September as the earliest window for new DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD product offerings from the start-up crop of new theatrical productions that finish the cycle from theatres-to-home entertainment.

The various Hollywood studios will have to get very creative during June, July and August with catalog and anniversary promotions to fill in this gap.

As for The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will be releasing Combo Pack editions for both the 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD) formats, plus a stand-alone DVD selection.

Bonus features include commentary from actor-turned-filmmaker Leigh Whannell — Insidious: Chapter 3), deleted scenes, and four featurettes — “Moss Manifested,” “Director's Journey with Leigh Whannell,” “The Players” and “Timeless Terror.”

Monday, April 6, 2020

For the period ending April 03, 2020 ... New DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database


 

 

 

 

DVD New Additions


Bayview Entertainment
05/26/20 — Sets Afterglow, Alien Butchers, Burning Down Babylon, Escort, Forsaken and Jake's Corner

Champion Productions
03/24/20 — Released Bill Self's Defensive Absolutes and Bill Self's Offensive Absolutes

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Carrion, Coda, Fittest, It Started as a Joke, Perfect 14, Skin Deep: The Battle Over Morgellons and Streetlight Harmonies

I-Cine
03/31/20 — Released Rung Thieng (10 disc set)

Icarus Films
05/19/20 — Sets Venerable W. (French/Burmese)

MVD Entertainment Group
06/12/20 — Sets Every Night's a Saturday Night

Mill Creek Entertainment
06/09/20 — Sets Sweating Bullets: 10 Action-Packed Movies (10 film set: The Night Never Sleeps, Maximum Revenge, Rapid Assault, Inner Action, Fugitive Rage, Fatal Combat, Me and the Mob, Shades, Yesterday's Target, Across the Line) (2 disc set) (with Digital Copy)

Movie Detective (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Angry Street (Japanese), Fear (Greek), La Vispa Teresa (Italian), Private Life (Russian) and Scuola Elementare (Italian)

PCN Productions (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released 2020 Sports Classics: 2017 PIAA 6A Basketball Championship, PA Books: Tuskegee in Philadelphia, Exploring Pennsylvania Boroughs: Dansville and Pennsylvania Country Roads: Farmers & Coronavirus

Paramount Home Media
04/28/20 — Sets Ride Like a Girl

Rarefilmsandmore.com (MOD)
03/24/20 — Released Om Tilla (Norwegian)

Remember When Classic Movies (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released King Solomon's Treasure

Rogue Video (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Grave of the Vampire and Great St. Louis Bank Robbery

Smart Mark Video (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released AAW: Art of War - Chicago, IL, Black Label Pro: Quantum Leap - Crown Point, NJ, Combat Zone Wrestling: Saturday Night Special - Baltimore, MD, Game Changer Wrestling: Jimmy Lloyd's Halloween Frightfest - Philadelphia, PA, Intergender Bonanza: The Stan Styles Intergender Bonanza 5 - Williamstown, NJ, IWA East Coast: Strength in Numbers - Nitro, WV, IWA Mid-South: In Like a Lion & Eyes of March - Jeffersonville, IN, Women Superstars United: 13th Anniversary - Voorhees, NJ and Zona-23: La Guerra Comienza - Mexico City

Warner Bros. Home Ent.
05/12/20 — Sets Birds of Prey (ARR of 95 days; box office: $84,080,044)


Blu-ray New Additions


Adler & Associates Entertainment (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Shedim

Aniplex of America
03/31/20 — Released Promised Neverland (3 disc set)

Arrow Video
05/05/20 — Sets White Fire

Aspiration Entertainment (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Same God

Bayview Entertainment
05/26/20 — Sets Highway 395

Buffalora Entertainment Group (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Her Name was Christa (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Cinema Epoch (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released American Wisper

Cri-One (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Falling

Eastern Star
03/31/20 — Released Angel's 3Piece (2 disc set), Anti-Magic Academy the 35th Test Platoon (2 disc set), Lupin III: Fujiko's Lie and Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson (2 disc set)

Epic Pictures Group, Inc.
02/25/20 — Released Harpoon (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Film Movement
03/31/20 — Released Their Finest Hour: 5 British WWII Classics (5 film set: Went the Day Well, The Colditz Story, The Dam Busters, Dunkirk, Ice Cold in Alex) (5 disc set)

FUNimation
03/31/20 — Released Aria the Scarlert Ammo: Season One (2 disc set), Fire Force Season 1, Part 1 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy), Urahara: The Complete Series (2 disc set), Wise Man's Grandchild (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy) and Yamada's First Time B Gata H Kei: The (Uncensored) Complete Series (2 disc set)

Garagehouse Pictures, LLC
03/31/20 — Released Trailer Trauma V: 70s Action Attack

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Carrion, Coda, Fittest, It Started as a Joke, Perfect 14, Skin Deep: The Battle Over Morgellons and Streetlight Harmonies

Gunpowder & Sky (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Eat, Brains, Love

ITN Studios (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Body Keepers

Image Entertainment
03/31/20 — Released Robo Dog

Kino Lorber
03/31/20 — Released Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Flame of New Orleans, Indiscretion of an American Wife/Terminal Station and Song of Songs

Maku Pakku, LLC
03/31/20 — Released Dead Hooker in a Trunk and Echos of Fear

PCN Productions (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released 2020 Sports Classics: 2017 PIAA 6A Basketball Championship, PA Books: Tuskegee in Philadelphia, Exploring Pennsylvania Boroughs: Dansville and Pennsylvania Country Roads: Farmers & Coronavirus

Paramount Home Media
06/02/20 — Sets Urban Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition (with Digital Copy)

Remember When Classic Movies (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Call of the Wild

Retrosploitation Direct (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Silent Night, Bloody Night 2: Revival

Sentai FilmWorks
03/31/20 — Released To Love Ru: Season One (4 disc set)

Shout! Factory
03/31/20 — Released Bones, Munster, Go Home!/The Munsters' Revenge, Mystify: Michael Hutchence and Standing Up, Falling Down

Smart Mark Video (MOD)
03/24/20 — Released Black Label Pro: Nobody Puts BLP in a Corner - Crown Point, IN, Black Label Pro: Quantum Leap - Crown Point, IN and Game Changer Wrestling: Jimmy Lloyd's Halloween Frightfest - Philadelphia, PA

Sri Karayadi Ayyanar Pictures (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Corona Virus: Wuhan Corona Virus Outbreak 27 December 2019 to 26 March 2020 (3 disc set)

Starry Night Publishing, LLC (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Mosura (aka: Mothra), Rodan and Suspicious Star Gorath

The Sailing Channel (MOD)
03/31/20 — Released Journey Back to Myself and Sailing Adventures of the Irish Rose

20th Century-Fox Home Ent.
05/12/20 — Sets Call of the Wild (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Universal Pictures Home Ent.
03/31/20 — Released Current War: Director's Cut (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy) and Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 - The Final Season (4 disc set)
05/05/20 — Sets Lodge (with Digital Copy)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.
05/19/20 — Sets Onward (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.
05/12/20 — Sets Birds of Prey (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Well Go U.S.A.
03/31/20 — Released Captain (Mandarin)



4K Ultra HD New Additions

 
Image Entertainment
03/31/20 — Released VFW (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack)

Sony Pictures Home Ent.
06/16/20 — Sets Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection, Volume 1 (6 film set: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Gandhi, A League of Our Own, Jerry Maguire) (8 4K Ultra HD/9 Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

20th Century-Fox Home Ent.
05/12/20 — Sets Call of the Wild (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.
05/19/20 — Sets Onward (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.
05/12/20 — Sets Birds of Prey (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)
















































Icarus Films Sets The Domestic DVD Debut Of Director Barbet Schroeder's The Venerable W. For May 19


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Icarus Films will be teaming up with France’s premiere film distribution company, Distrib Films, for the domestic DVD debut of Oscar-nominated director Barbet Schroeder’s The Venerable W. on May 19.
 
This is the third entry in what Schroeder (who was nominated Best Director for Reversal of Fortune) has called his “trilogy of evil” film series.   It began with the 1974 (1976 domestically) documentary, General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait, which was filmed — amazingly enough — at the height of this powers (before Entebbe).     
At the time of the filming, Idi Amin had been accused of murdering somewhere north of 100,000 of his own citizens and was widely viewed as being unstable … nevertheless, Schroeder was given full access and got out alive.

The next in the “trilogy of evil” series was the 2007 documentary, Terror’s Advocate, which chronicled the life of lawyer Jacques Vergès, whose clients over the years have included the likes of Klaus Barbie and Carlos the Jackal. 
 
Now comes The Venerable W., a look at Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist monk in Myanmar, who preaches against the country’s Muslim population.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyIn a country run by the National League for Democracy (NLD) since 1990 — a one-party dictatorship — Wirathu’s message of intolerance gives the population something to focus on, a boogieman, so to speak.

Schroder deftly blends interview sessions with Wirathu with amateur footage to paint a picture of government sponsored “ethnic cleansing” in the name of the peaceful and enlightened religion of Buddhism.   Chilling.

The Venerable W. is presented in French, Burmese and English, with English subtitles were appropriate.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey



Paramount Home Media To Release Urban Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition On Blu-ray On June 2


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Paramount Home Media brings to Blu-ray, for the first time on June 2, director James Bridges’ 1980 blockbuster hit, Urban Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition.

It is hard to fathom that 40 years have passed since Bud (John Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger) lit up the screen with their rocky romance, which included the villainy of Wes (Scott Glenn), the honky-tonk mystique of Gilley’s and all backed by a sizzling soundtrack that featured the likes of Anne Murray (“Could I Have This Dance”), Boz Scaggs (“Look What You’ve Done to Me”), The Charlie Daniels Band (“The Devil Went Down to Georgia”), Bonnie Raitt (“Don’t it Make Ya Wanna Dance”) and Johnny Lee’s show-stopping, “Looking for Love.” 

Based on Aaron Latham’s 1978 Esquire Magazine article, “The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy: America's Search for True Grit,” the late Robert Evans, head of production at Paramount from 1967 through 1974, and then as a producer for the studio, saw the possibility of turning Latham’s looking for the modern cowboy story into a major theatrical production.   He was spot-on.

Indeed, Evans, as a producer or head of production, was uncanny in his commercial judgment and delivered such films as Rosemary’s Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, Harold and Maude, Chinatown and The Great Gatsby.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyThe film itself went a couple of million dollars over budget as a result of delays in shooting  — Travolta’s dog almost took his face off, which delayed the beginning of the production by some three weeks, torrential rains (some of the refinery scenes were shot in some pretty sketchy weather) and more.   Despite the delays, Urban Cowboy was — and remains to this day — a musical romance that never ceases to delight and entertain.   A hit then … a hit now!!
DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey 
Bonus features, in addition to vintage DVD material, include the featurette titled “Good Times With Gilley: Looking Back At Urban Cowboy” and deleted scenes. 

Also getting added to the release calendar by Paramount Home Media this past week is Australian actress-turned-filmmaker Rachel Griffiths’ biopic, Ride Like a Girl.   The street date for the DVD of this Down Under theatrical hit will be Apr. 28.

Ride Like a Girl is the story of jockey Michelle Payne (Teresa Palmer — Hacksaw Ridge, Lights Out, The Grudge 2, etc.), who won the Melbourne Cup in 2015, the first woman to do so in the race’s rich 155-year history.





DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey



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MVD Entertainment Group Readies Documentary Filmmaker Jeff Stacey's Every Night's A Saturday Night For DVD Release On June 12


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
MVD Entertainment Group has tabbed June 12 for the DVD debut of the Icon Television Music production of documentary filmmaker Jeff Stacey’s Every Night's a Saturday Night.

The subject of Stacey’s film is the life and career of legendary saxophonist Bobby Keys, who, by chance, struck up a friendship with a young British rocker by the name of Keith Richards in 1964, when The Rolling Stones came to the United States for their first tour — which by all accounts was a complete disaster.  

Nevertheless, the 21-year old Keys made enough of an impression with Richards and his bandmates that he was would become life-long friends with both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.   But more to the point, Keys would be the Sax Man for many of their recording, including the “Billboard Hot 100” Number One hit, “Brown Sugar” in 1971 (“Sticky Fingers” album … and single).

Legend has it that “Brown Sugar” was actually recorded in 1969 when the Stones were back in the Unites States for the tour that included the Altamont Speedway Free Festival concert in December of that year.   “Brown Sugar” was performed live for the first time as part of the Stone’s set (segments can be seen in the 1970 documentary, Gimme Shelter).

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
From the late 1960s until Keys death in 2014, he was the go-to guy if you needed a saxophone player.   If you want a who’s who of rockers that he performed with, a few examples would be John Lennon (on at least four albums, not counting a joint venture with Paul McCartney ), Eric Clapton, Humble Pie, Joe Cocker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chuck Berry, Carly Simon and more … many, many more.

Filmmaker Jeff Stacey, working with Bobby Keys’ biography (Bobby Keys and Bill Ditenhafer … published in 2012),  “Every Night's a Saturday Night: The Rock 'n' Roll Life of Legendary Sax Man Bobby Keys,” as the backbone for the film itself, we get the details of Keys career and hear directly (interview) from those who knew him, including Keith Richards and many, many more.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey


Mill Creek Entertainment Readies Ten-Strong Price-To-Collect DVD Release Of Sweating Bullets: 10 Action-Packed Movies For Delivery On June 9


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Mill Creek Entertainment has a deal for those in need of an adrenaline action film fix.   Ten edge-of-your-seat thrillers will be available as a double-disc DVD collection on June 9 for just $14.95.   Yes, you read that right, just $14.95 for ten action films … and this terrific deal comes with Digital Copy.

Titled Sweating Bullets: 10 Action-Packed Movies, we kick off this action romp with Eric Roberts and Armand Assante starring in the DVD debut of director Fred Carpenter’s The Night Never Sleeps.

The script comes from a former New York City police officer (Michael A. Lovaglio), and it is here, in his city, New York City, that we are introduced Detective Thomas Cavanaugh (Dan Brennan — Hunter’s Moon, Maggie Marvel) and follow him during one long night as he goes in pursuit of those who killed one of his fellow officers.   

Cavanaugh crosses paths with the seedy Hector (Eric Roberts), plus other criminal types, including the infamous “Iceman” (played by Russ Camarda — Hunter’s Moon, Under Surveillance), but as he and his partner, Officer Rourke (played by stunt woman Stephanie Finochio), work the streets their investigation points in a direction that fills them with anger.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyAlso included in this ten-film collection is one from Sandra Bullock that has been out of print for 15 years.   15 years!!  If you wanted to buy a used DVD copy on Amazon.com it could set you back close to $30.00, which is double what the entire collection from Mill Creek Entertainment — NEW — will set you cost you.

So what film are we talking about?   Sandra Bullock made a number of films in the early 1990s and then in the summer of 1994 hit it big with Speed.  

Now she is a star and that prompted the resurrection of a film that she apparently made in 1992 for writer/director Frank Rainone titled Who Do I Gotta Kill?, which was just sitting on the shelf.   It was dusted off, retitled as Me & the Mob and released theatrically in the New York market after Labor Day in 1994 to take advantage of her sudden stardom.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
It’s basically a story about a writer named Jimmy Corona (James Lorinz — Frankenhooker, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and, who most recently had a small part as a “Teamster” in The Irishman), who joins the New York mob to get material for a book.   At one point Bullock, with a thick “Brooklyn” accent, strips down to next to nothing and has a wild sexual encounter with Jimmy.   And guess who else is in this film, none other that Steve Buscemi (who had shot Reservoir Dogs some time in late 1991 for Quentin Tarantino) … he has a small role.

There are two films right off the top … one, The Night Never Sleeps, making its DVD debut and one, Me & the Mob, featuring a near-naked Sandra Bullock that has been out of print since 2005.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyAlso included in the DVD collection of Sweating Bullets: 10 Action-Packed Movies are three films from cult filmmaker Fred Olen Ray — Maximum Revenge, featuring “Scream Queen” Michelle Bauer (Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, Vampire Vixens from Venus, etc.) and the sensual Monique Parent (Busted, The Pornographer, Blood Scarab, etc.); Rapid Assault (with Tim Abell, Jeff Rector and Lisa Mazzetti) … a well-timed story about a killer virus about to be released by a terrorist group … and, Fugitive Rage, starring the well-endowed Wendy Schumacher (Scorned 2, Animal Instincts III) and former Penthouse “Pet of the Month” Shauna O’Brien (Bare Wench Project: Uncensored, The Seductress, etc.) as prison inmates who are recruited as a hit team to wipe out the mob.

Rounding out the collection are Fatal Combat, Shades, Inner Action, Across the Line and the sci-fi thriller, Yesterday's Target, starring Malcolm McDowell, Daniel Baldwin and Emmy-nominated “soap opera star” Stacy Haiduk (All My Children, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives).

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey