Lionsgate Home Entertainment Tabs Aug. 5 For DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Editions Of Divergent

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has targeted Aug. 5 as the street date for the Summit Entertainment production of director Neil Burger’s film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s post-apocalyptic novel, Divergent, the first in a planned series of film adaptions of her trilogy of books (Insurgent is slated for release in March of 2015, while Allegiant will be produced as a two-parter in 2016 and 2017).

Planned for release are Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD editions (featuring UltraViolet) … the ARR comes in at 137 days.   Ticket sales currently stand at $146.8 million.

While the results were good — not that of blockbuster status — the production team going forward must find better ways to exploit the “uniqueness” of the series if it is not going to end up being labeled as just another Hunger Games wannabe.   

Word is that director Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, RED, The Time Traveler's Wife and the failed R.I.P.D. are among his film credits) has been recruited to replace Burger on the sequel.  Only time will tell how that works out.

Bonus features include two commentary options — one featuring director Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist, etc.) and the second with Douglas Wick (Oscar-winner for Gladiator) and Lucy Fisher (co-producer with Wick on such films as The Great Gatsby, Memoirs of a Geisha and Jarhead) — the making-of featurette titled “Bringing Divergent to Life,” a second featurette titled “Faction Before Blood” and deleted scenes.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Sabotage To Be Released As DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Editions From Universal Studios Home Entertainment On July 22

While he has not officially drifted into Steven Segal territory you have to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting damn close with his latest box office outing of just $10.5 million.   

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has placed director David Ayer’s Sabotage on its July 22 release calendar with DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (featuring UltraViolet) product offerings.   The ARR is 116 days.

Actually, there’s nothing wrong with the film — it’s a solid action thriller and it delivers exactly what it promises — but Schwarzenegger just isn’t the box office draw that he used to be!

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Writer/Director Joshua Zeman's Killer Legends Has July 1 DVD Debut Date Set By Breaking Glass Pictures

Breaking Glass Pictures announced this past week that July 1 will be the DVD debut date for writer/director Joshua Zeman’s documentary-like look at urban horror legends, Killer Legends.

Zeman, with cohort Rachel Mills, gave us Cropsey in 2009 (a documentary on missing children and their real-life kidnapper) and they return here to take on four additional truth-to-fiction legends that have inspired horror-themed films —  “The Hookman,” “The Candyman,” “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” and “Phantom Clowns.”

Killer Legends is an interesting blend of horror (some nice chills) and what plays out as something similar to four episodes of a “truth or fiction” reality television series.  Target audience is definitely genre fans … bonus segments are included with each “urban legend” sequence.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Oscilloscope Laboratories' The Past Is A Grotesque Animal Heads To DVD On Aug. 12

On Aug. 12 Oscilloscope Laboratories will release on DVD documentary filmmaker Jason Miller’s The Past is a Grotesque Animal, a very personal look at the life and artistry of songwriter, musician and performance artist Kevin Barnes.

Founder and frontman of the eclectic rock bank Of Montreal (aka: “of Montreal”), Barnes is a difficult individual to pin down.   Since 1997 a dozen albums have been released and he’s built a core following … it took seven years from start-to-finish for Miller to construct this documentary, and even then fans will come away with more questions than answers.  

Friends, his parents and band mates are interviewed and some of Barnes elaborate stage productions (and personas) are presented here.   A 30-market theatrical break is planned for mid-June, which should further build awareness for the Aug. 12 DVD rollout.

Bonus features with the DVD release of The Past is a Grotesque Animal include a 16-page “Song Dynasties” booklet.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Alice Cooper And Elton John Join The Eagle Rock Entertainment Blu-ray And DVD Hit Parade

Eagle Rock Entertainment has announced that two icons of rock, Alice Cooper and Elton John, will be showcased in June and July with new DVD and Blu-ray product offerings.

Arriving at retail on June 3 will be a three-SKU helping of documentary filmmakers Sam Dunn, Reginald Harkema and Scott McFadyen’s Super Duper Alice Cooper, an insightful look at the life and career of Vincent Damon Furnier (aka: Alice Cooper).

The SKU mix includes both DVD and Blu-ray editions, plus Eagle Rock Entertainment is also delivering a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack “Deluxe Limited Edition,” which includes both a bonus DVD of previously unreleased concert footage from Montreal University in 1972 and a bonus CD of Alice Cooper’s performance at the 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival.

The bonus DVD features a nine-song set that includes “I’m Eighteen” (the hit that rocked Alice Cooper to stardom the previous) … other selections include, “School’s Out,” “Kill,” “Dead Babies” and “Be My Lover.” 

Bonus goodies included with all three SKU configurations: Additional rare footage not used in the final documentary, deleted scenes and Alice Cooper’s interviews (pural) from the VHI Classic series “Metal Evolution.”

July 1 will be an eventful date this summer for fans of Sir Elton.   That’s the street date selected by Eagle Rock for the live concert presentation of Elton John: The Million Dollar Piano.

Planned for release are both DVD and Blu-ray editions of this 19-song set filmed at Caesars Palace over a series of nights last year.   Included in the mix are such fan favorites as “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Bennie and the Jets” and  “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”  

Bonus nuggets include the featurette titled “The Making Of The Million Dollar Piano” and four bonus tracks filmed in Kiev in 2012 — “Candle In The Wind,” “Sacrifice,” “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.”

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Paramount Home Media Distribution Announces Shogun For Blu-ray On Aug. 5

Paramount Home Media Distribution announced this past week that James Clavell’s 1980 blockbuster TV mini-series, Shogun, will be getting a Blu-ray push on Aug. 5.  A five disc Blu-ray set is planned.

Since the series was originally filmed in 35mm (the late Andrew Laszlo was the Cinematographer — Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Streets of Fire, Thieves, etc.), Paramount will be working with some pretty choice material for the MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p presentation.  It should pop!

Shogun won both the Emmy for Best TV Series – Drama and the Golden Globe for Outstanding Limit Series … additionally Richard Chamberlain and Yôko Shimada won Golden Globes for Best Actor and Actress respectively and were nominated for Emmys in both categories.   In all, this landmark television series captured three Emmys.    

Bonus features announced thus far include commentary by series director Jerry London the featurette titled “The Making of Shogun” and series (unspecified) of featurettes focusing on the “Historical Perspective” of the series.

In other August home entertainment release news this past week from Paramount Home Media Distribution we find that Aug. 5 is also the street date for a four-disc DVD collection of Awkward: Season 3 and a double-disc DVD presentation of Californication: The Seventh Season.

The following week, Aug. 12, there will be two five-disc DVD sets of Gunsmoke: The Tenth Season, Volume One and Gunsmoke: The Tenth Season, Volume Two.

Plus Aug. 12 also brings to market the DVD debut of the labor-of-love documentary from producers Randall Lobb, Isaac Elliott-Fisher and Mark Hussey, Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.   Five-years in the making, with over 100 hours of extensive interviews to draw from and the goal of providing “the most complete history of this amazing phenomenon,” this should be a real treat from TMNT fans worldwide!

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Indican Pictures' Emoticon ;) Makes Its DVD Debut On July 8

Indican Pictures has tabbed July 8 as the DVD debut date for actress, writer, producer and director Livia De Paolis’ Emoticon ;).

Blessed with a cast that includes Sonia Braga, Carol Kane and Michael Cristofer, we are introduced to Elena (De Paolis), a thirty-something grad-student working (struggling with) on her thesis — something about “the modern means of communication” — who finds herself in a relationship with (read: the latest younger “girlfriend” of a much older man … ) Walter (Michael Cristopher).   

He is a wealthy New Yorker who has had little time for relationships that last or the baggage of family that goes with such things.   Indeed, his “family” consists of not one, but two adopted teens and an ex-wife who is even more self-obsessed than he is.

The kids, and talk about “designer” babies — they were selected for being about the same age from two different mothers (just months apart … you know, “covering all our bases,” that sort of thing) have now become teens (young adults soon) and very observant to the debris field that passes for “family.”   

Luke (Miles Chandler — The Longshots, The Education of Charlie Banks) and Mandy (Diane Guerrero — as Maritza in the TV series Orange Is the New Black) view Elena with contempt … she’s just another “bimbo” in a long a string there of — “ladyfriend,” not “girlfriend” since she is older than the last couple of relationships that their father has had.

That’s your setup and quite frankly, in the early going, you are left to ponder where writer/director Livia De Paolis is going to take both her character and the story.   It seems like a recipe for disaster … a young woman, taking too long to finish her doctorate, in a doomed relationship (count the weeks, or days until Walter becomes bored with her) and clearly adrift in where her life is going.

But with Emoticon ;) we get some pleasant twists, Elena becomes a better friend/mentor to the teens (who have issues) than their mother and the potentially cardboard Walter proves his worth when an unexpected personal crisis threatens to overwhelm Elena.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report