Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Tabs Oct. 22 For The Full Spread Physical Media Launch Of Deadpool & Wolverine • Dec. 3 For Alien: Romulus

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, with rival studio Sony Pictures Home Entertainment handling sales and distribution, for the full-spread physical media launch of two highly collectible film franchise entries.

First up is the Oct. 22 release of director Shawn Levy’s blockbuster action/comedy Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

The ARR works out to 88 days and the domestic box office haul currently stands at an impressive $628.6 million.

Both the DVD and Blu-ray format product offerings will be stand-alone SKUs, while the 4K Ultra HD purchasing selection will be a Combo Pack release (with Blu-ray).

A premium VOD window opens up on Oct. 1, which gives the “Helper” community just 21 days to move their own Blu-ray copies of Deadpool & Wolverine to unsuspecting consumers.

Bonus goodies kickoff with commentary from director Shawn Levy (Free Guy, Night at the Museum, Date Night) and Ryan Reynolds.  There are also deleted scenes, a gag reel, some mock PSAs and four featurettes — “Finding Madonna: Making the Oner,” “Practical Approach: Celebrating the Art of Ray Chan,” “Loose Ends: The Legacy of Heroes” and “Wolverine.”

The next film franchise entry arrives on Dec. 3 and this would be writer/director Fede Alvarez’s throwback entry into the Alien sci-fi series, Alien: Romulus.

The Dec. 3 full-spread physical media launch date yields an ARR of 109 days.   Domestic box office receipts currently stand at $104.2 million (against a reported production budget of $80 million). 

Planned for distribution are stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions, plus a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack purchasing option.

The big negative in the rollout of Alien: Romulus is the premium VOD window that opens up on Oct. 15.   This affords the “Helper” community a full seven weeks to peddle their own Blu-ray editions of the film to unsuspecting (or those that simply don’t care) collectors.

Alien: Romulus, according to trade and event interviews with Alvarez, takes place between the original Alien film and Ripley’s 57-year out-of-action sleep cycle that is broken in the opening sequences of Aliens.

While the film (with overseas ticket action … plus other revenue streams) will be very profitable, it is hard to imagine how this entry in the series has anywhere to go with a follow-on sequel — until Ripley gave her version of the events that unfolded on the Nostromo, “modern day” authorities had no idea that Ripley’s alien creatures even existed.  

Who Rain is (played by Cailee Spaeney — Civil War, Priscilla, Pacific Rim Uprising, etc.), who her “father” was and her possible relationship with Andy (David Jonsson) could be the subject of a sequel, but don’t count on it.   If you were to take bets on the next entry … think another Alien/Predator stand-alone. 

As to bonus goodies, there are alternate and extended scenes, the four-part making of presentation titled “Return to Horror: Crafting Alien: Romulus” and two additional featurettes — “Inside the Xenomorph Showdown” and “Alien: A Conversation.”