Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Expands DVD And Blu-ray Film Library Selections In March

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has added a Blu-ray edition of director Fritz Lang’s 1956 film noir thriller, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, starring Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine, to its Mar. 13 release calendar.

Also getting a Blu-ray push the following week, Mar. 20, is director Edward Ludwig’s 1957 sci-fi mutated monster tale, The Black Scorpion, with Richard Denning and Mara Corday (with f/x by none other than Willis H. O'Brien — The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young — who is teamed with Wah Chang — Kronos, The Time Machine, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, etc.).

And, the four Margaret Rutherford detective mysteries, with her starring as Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, will be getting single-disc releases on Mar. 27 (previously available as a four-film set release in 2006) … these are: Murder Most Foul, Murder Ahoy, Murder at the Gallop and Murder, She Said.

Writer/Director Christian Gudegast's Den Of Thieves Heads Home On Apr. 24 From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced this past week that the STX Entertainment’s bank-heist thriller, Den of Thieves, will be heading home on Apr. 24 with DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions.

The ARR comes in at 95 days and domestic ticket sales were a solid $43.4 million.

Writer/director Christian Gudegast, who is making his directing debut here, has been something of a “script doctor” for a number of years in “Hollywood,” and does not usually get credit for his contributions.   That said, with Den of Thieves he clearly knows how to deliver a heist film … Michael Mann’s Heat, William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. and Spike Lee’s Inside Man immediately come to mind as the standard for such films in this genre.   

Oh sure, you can dig back further into the film vaults and come up with the likes of director John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle and Kubrick’s The Killing, but with just this handful of examples you sort of get the idea of where Den of Thieves lives. 

It’s not just an A to B to C action film, it’s complicated, there is misdirection and backstory character development — although Gerard Butler’s character’s dysfunctional family life seemed a little much.   There’s a terrific twist at the end and each of the main characters — both good and bad — are deeply flawed and never, ever one-dimensional.   

So if you loved Heat, Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects (that’s another one) and To Live and Die in L.A., then Den of Thieves is a must-have addition to your library of “heist” films come Apr. 24.

As to bonus nuggets, Den of Thieves arrives with commentary from director/writer/producer Christian Gudegast (London has Fallen, A Man Apart), who is joined by producer Tucker Tooley (The Space Between Us, We’re the Millers, A Man Apart, etc.), an alternate ending, outtakes, and a trio of production featurettes — “Alpha Males,” “Into the Den” and “Alameda Corridor.”

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Tabs Apr. 3 For Director Adam Robitel’s Insidious: The Last Key

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced this past week that director Adam Robitel’s Insidious: The Last Key will be making the transition from its successful theatrical run to the home entertainment marketplace as DVD and Blu-ray product offerings on Apr. 3.

The ARR for this move is 88 days and ticket sales were a robust $67.2 million (which is pretty much where the first three films in the series averaged) … when the Saw film franchise ran its course, actor/writer Leigh Whannell simply conjured up this successful film franchise series — expect a fifth installment in 2019).

As to bonus nuggets, there is a franchise recap titled “Dive Into the Insidious Universe,” an alternate ending, eight deleted scenes and a trio of featurettes — “Becoming Elise,” “Going Into the Further” and “Unlocking Keyface.”

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Ho-Hums The Home Entertainment Launch Of Director Jaume Collet-Serra's The Commuter On Apr. 17

Lionsgate Home Entertainment appears to be in total meltdown mode when it comes to moving theatrical hits from their multiplex venues to the home entertainment marketplace.  The reasons are unclear, but something is definitely afoot.

Last December, Steve Beeks, the long-time guiding force behind the rise of Lionsgate from its days as the Vidmark and Trimark video labels to a major “Hollywood” studio force, announced his retirement.   It is not clear if his exit is a factor in the sudden inattentive nature of the home entertainment PR and marketing group of late, but you have to look for something of that magnitude to explain the breakdown.   

Indeed, it is hard to fathom the seemingly bungled home entertainment rollouts of both of the A24 Films’ Oscar contenders in the past couple of weeks.  Lady Bird, a Best Picture candidate (plus Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and acting nominations for both Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf), which is produced by nine-time Best Picture nominee, Scott Rudin, got its marching orders when Amazon.com started taking orders, not when Lionsgate Home Entertainment’s PR department made any sort of effort to announce it. 

And, Disaster Artist (Best Adapted Screenplay) received nothing more than the “royal wave” in its transition from theatrical venues to the home entertainment arena.  

Their home entertainment availability will be Mar. 6 on Mar. 13 respectively.  

Sure, there could be issues with talent, sign-offs on press releases, miscommunications … you name it, anything and everything has happened in this business more than once. 

  Unless Scott Rudin (and his “people”) are at the heart of the problem with Lady Bird and its home entertainment non-event launch, and producer, director and actor James Franco is guilty for having his finger in the pie on the inept Disaster Artist home entertainment push, there will be some explaining to do.   

Both of these films are connected to A24 Films (maybe A24 Films is the problem), but when things start happening in “threes,” you have to wonder about the underlying reasons.

The third “shoe to drop” was the sudden arrival — without fanfare — of director Jaume Collet-Serra action thriller, The Commuter, as DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs and 4K Ultra-HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack product offerings on the release calendar for delivery on Apr. 17.   It is not an A24 Film production, but rather The Commuter is a Lionsgate theatrical release!!

This Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern and Jonathan Banks mystery-on-a-train theatrical hit pulled in $36 million in domestic ticket sales … with those kind of numbers you don’t just sit back and watch retailers like Amazon.com start taking orders, you make a big deal about the home entertainment availability.   That didn’t happen.

For the record, the ARR for The Commuter is 95 days.

It’s not just Lionsgate that has its share of problems, so we are not picking on them exclusively.   Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, for example, has been spotty in their execution for sometime now, and earlier this month their president, Man Jit Singh, was shown the door!   

It’s a very competitive business, the windows are tight for moving theatrical releases from the big screen to the small screen, talent and producers can be a pain (in terms of getting things signed off), and there are “politics,” both external and internal, that play a factor in getting even simple things done … like getting a press release out in a timely fashion.   

All of the studios go through it from time to time — key management retirements, firings, etc.   It will get sorted out, or heads will roll (have rolled) … that much you can take to the bank.

As to bonus goodies for The Commuter, there are two featurettes — “End of the Line” and “Off the Rails.”

   

For the period ending February 16, 2018 ... New DVD and Blu-ray selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database.

For the period ending February 16, 2018 ... New DVD and Blu-ray selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database.

 

DVD Releases: 

 

Alpha Video (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Camp Blood 4, Communist Threat (3 short films: Communism, The Challenge of Ideas, The Road to the Wall), Deadline, Forbidden Cinema, Volume 24, Golden Age of Trains, Volume 11, Hal Roach's Rascals, Volume 3 (8 silent short films: Jackie's Fire Brigade (1922), Young Sherlock (1922), A Quiet Street (1922), The Champeen (1923), Back Stage (1923), The Buccaneers (1924), High Society (1924), Buried Treasure (1926)), Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans #7 (4 episodes), He Couldn't Take It, Leon Errol Collection, Volume 4 (6 short films: Counselitis, Down the Ribber, The Wrong Room, Beware of Redheads, Borrowed Blonde, Wife Tames Wolf), Lost TV Mystery Classics (4 TV episodes: The Shadow of the Cloak: The Last Performance, Charlie Wild, Private Detective: The Case of Double Trouble, The Files of Jeffrey Jones: Killer Bait, The Telltale Clue; The Case of the Talking Garden), Silent Comedy Marathon, Volume 8 (9 short silent films: A Grocery Clerk's Romance (1912), Petticoat Camp (1912), A Flirt's Mistake (1914), Leading Lizzie Astray (1914), The Home Breakers (1915), Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs (1918), The Janitor (1919), Heavy Seas (1923), The Rodeo (1929)), Silent Western Double Feature (2 silent films: Call of the Desert (1930), The Fighting Stallion (1927)), Spanish Earth and Wings Up!: Rare Propaganda Films of World War II (9 short films: Wings Up, The Arm Behind the Army, Conquest of the Night, Battle for France, Bombs Over Europe, New Thrills of 1943, MacArthur Liberates Manila, The Fight U.S. Marines, The Road to World War II)

Aniplex of America

02/13/18 — Released Blue Exorcist Kyoto Saga, Volume 2

BBC Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time and Hey Duggee: The Rescue Badge And Other Stories

Barlates Body Blitz (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Barlates Body Blitz Mat Intervals and Barlates Body Blitz Sculpt Pyramid

Bayview Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Christine Felstead's Yoga for Runners, Episode 1: Spine and Christine Felstead's Yoga for Runners, Episode 2: Core Strength

Breaking Glass Pictures

02/13/18 — Released Thirsty

Championship Productions

02/13/18 — Released Inside Duke Lacrosse: John Danowski's Practice Session

Cinedigm Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released #FromJennifer, Bond Unbroken and Grindhouse Nightmares

Dark Wave Films (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Dark Walker: Ultimate Collector's Edition and Offerings

Divine Art Limited - Metier

02/13/18 — Released Hughes: Symphonic Visions (NTSC/PAL Combo)

DreamScape Media, LLC

02/13/18 — Released Bullied, Fidel Castro and Sons of Perdition

Eagle Rock Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Van Morrison: In Concert

Echo Bridge Home Ent.

02/13/18 — Released Surviving the Wild

Film Chest

04/03/18 — Sets 4/20 Massacre

FilmRise (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Flames

Gazell Records

04/06/18 — Sets Randy Brecker Quintet: Live at Sweet Basil, 1988 (DVD/CD Combo Pack)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Above Ground Level: Dubfire, Alpha Gateway, Ballerina, Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape, Don't F*** in the Woods, Fixed and Gone Tomorrow

Indican Pictures

02/20/18 — Adds David’s Dinosaur

02/27/18 — Sets 6:66 PM

Inside Recordings

02/13/18 — Released Trudell

International Remote Viewing Assc. (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Courtney Brown - The Prometheus Protocols: Conducting Public Remote-Viewing Experiments, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Dale E. Graff - Exploring the PSI Process, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Jeffrey Mishlove, Roger Nelson, Paul H. Smith, Russell Targ and Glenn Wheaton - Panel Discussion: Remote Viewing and the Nature of Consciousness, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: John Alexander - Shamanism, Remote Viewing and Near Death Experiences, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Lyn Buchanan & Coleen Marenich - Developing Standards in the Remote Viewing Industry, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Marshall Payn - What Breaks Paradigms?, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Marty Rosenblatt - 10-Choice Associative Remote Viewing, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Melvin Morse - Is the Aperture the Near-Death Tunnel?, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Pam Coronado - What Psychics Can Learn From Remote Viewers and Remote Viewers Can Learn From Psychics, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Paul H. Smith - Smoking Gun III: Evidence for a Successful Remote Viewing Application in the Real World, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Roger Nelson - The World-Spanning View of Global Consciousness, IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Russell Targ & Stephan Schwartz - A Tribute to Hella Hammid: The First Woman Remote Viewer and IRVA 2009 Remote Viewing Conference: Skip Atwater - Project 8200 The Untold Story

Kino Lorber

02/13/18 — Released Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, Horror Double Feature (2 film set: Chaos, Don't Look in the Basement), Last Hunter, Thomas Crown Affair and V.I. Warshawski

Left Coast Rail Videos (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released BNSFs Kootenai River Sub and SP 4449 Daylight Along the River to Bend

Leomark Studios, LLC (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Dangerous Lies, Volume 2, Double Duty, Man from Glover Grove and WAX: We are the X (Italian)

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Ballad of Lefty Brown (ARR of 53 days; box office: $7,856), Gospel of Matthew, Hazlo Como Hombre (Spanish) (ARR of 158 days; box office: $2,520,001), Hedgehogs, Hellraiser: Judgement and Three's Company: The Complete Series (29 disc set)

02/20/18 — Sets Florida Project (ARR of 137 days; box office: $5,791,262)

03/06/18 — Sets Lady Bird (ARR of )

MHz Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released French Village: Season 7 (3 disc set)

MPI Home Video

02/13/18 — Released Dealt (ARR of 116 days; box office: $30,414)

Magnolia Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Blade of the Immortal (2 disc set) (Japanese) (ARR of 102 days; box office: $150,532)

Nagle Studios (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Hell's Image

Naxos

02/13/18 — Released Riccardo Chailly in Leipzig (4 disc set)

PBS Direct

02/13/18 — Released Bombing of Wall Street, Dinosaur Train: Big Pond Adventures, Garfield: Nine Lives, Nature: Arctic Wolf Pack, NOVA: Extreme Animal Weapons, PBS Kids: Outer Space Adventures, Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents and We're Going on a Bear Hunt

PDSD, Inc. – Shami Media

02/13/18 — Released Ares 11, Hollywood Warrioress and Reluctant Polyglot

Paramount Home Media

04/24/18 — Sets Grease: 40^th Anniversary Edition

Passion River

02/13/18 — Released Dismissed

Rarefilmsandmore.com (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Bad Joke (Russian), Das Stahltier (German), Death in Red Jaguar (English dubbed), Die Buntkarierten (German), Die Freudlose Gasse (silent-1925), El Gran Calavera (Spanish), Ferocious One (Russian), Foxhole in Cairo, Germans Strike Again (Greek), Great Transport (Serbo-Croatian), Harem Bunch, La Gondola del Diavolo (Italian), Maciste in Hell (silent-1926) – Revised, Memory of Two Mondays, Paris After Dark, Ten Thousand Suns (Hungarian), Wenn Es Nacht Wird Auf Der Reeperbahn (German) and Zwischen Gestern und Morgen (German)

Reality Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Ares 11 and Mind Control: The Mkultra Files

Reliance

02/13/18 — Released Haseena Parkar (Hindi)

S’More Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Child Bride of Short Creek

Sentai FilmWorks

02/13/18 — Released Food Wars: The Second Plate (3 disc set)

Serpent Films (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Classic Movies: Two Retro Classics (2 film set: Jamaica Inn, King Solomon's Mines), Classic Movies: Two Retro Classics (2 film set: A Man Betrayed, The Girl From Monterey) and Classic Sexy: Two Retro Classics (2 film set: Nude on the Moon, Teaserama)

Severin Films, LLC

02/13/18 — Released Threads

Shout! Factory

02/13/18 — Released Halo: Legends, Halo: The Fall of Reach and My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Spring Into Friendship

Silent Hall of Fame (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Endless Slapstick. Larry Semon: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 9 (5 silent short films: Slips and Slackers (1917), Pluck and Plotters (1918), Frauds and Frenzies (1918), Traps and Tangles (1919), Her Boyfriend (1924))

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

02/13/18 — Released Flint

Soundview Media Partners, LLC

02/13/18 — Released Taboo Identity

Strand Releasing

02/13/18 — Released Foam Party (Spanish)

Summer Hill Films

02/13/18 — Released First String

Synergetic

02/13/18 — Released Sami Blood (Swedish)

The Orchard (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Hudson Tribes and That's Not Me

Tricoast Studios (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released 33 & Beyond: The Royal Art of Freemasonry

Tucson, Pearl of Sonora - Steve Henke (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Tucson, Pearl of Sonora, Volume 96: Enchantment Resort, Sedona, Tucson, Pearl of Sonora, Volume 98: Snowland in Tucson, Tucson, Pearl of Sonora, Volume 99: Penasco, Tucson, Pearl of Sonora, Volume 101: Rocky Point to El Golfo Santa Clara and Tucson, Pearl of Sonora, Volume 102: La Frontera

Uncork’d Entertainment (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Almost Dead and Monolith

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

02/13/18 — Released Sinner: Season One (2 disc set)

VIZ Media

02/13/18 — Released Hunter X: Phantom Rouge and Pokemon: The Movie - I Choose You

Vertical Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Inside

Vinegar Syndrome

03/27/18 — Sets Confessions of a Teenage Peanut Butter Freak and Peekarama (2 film set: Women at Play, Good Girls, Bad Girls)

Vision Films (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released For the Love of George

Vision Video

02/13/18 — Released Savior

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.

03/27/18 — Sets Star Wars: The Last Jedi (ARR of 102 days; box office: $616,833,692)

Warner Bros. Home Ent. (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Animal Kingdom: The Complete Second Season (3 disc set), Batman Triple Feature (3 film set: Batman: Bad Blood, Batman vs. Robin, Son of Batman), Double Feature (2 film set: Batman vs. Two-Face, Batman: Return of the Capped Crusader), Lazarus Man: The Complete Series (5 disc set), Sesame Street: The Best of Elmo 4, That Midnight Kiss and Toast of New Orleans

02/20/18 — Sets Chastity Belt, A Girl, A Guy and a Gob, Love and Learn and Story of Louis Pasteur

04/03/18 — Sets Father Figures (ARR of 102 days; box office $17,490,008)

Well Go U.S.A.

02/13/18 — Released Brotherhood of Blades II (Mandarin)

Wild Eye Releasing

02/13/18 — Released Pretty Fine Things

Wiggins Music Group

02/13/18 — Released Wholyfit Basics

World Wide Multi Media

02/13/18 — Released Great Rivers And Lakes

YRF Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Tiger Zinda Hai (Hindi) (with bonus CD) (ARR of 53 days; box office: $5,560,921)

Blu-ray Releases: 

 

Aniplex of America

02/13/18 — Released Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga Volume 2 (2 disc set)

Arrow Video

04/10/18 — Sets Deep Red (2 disc set) (Italian)

BBC Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Doctor Who: The Complete Peter Capaldi Years (16 disc set) and Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

Cinedigm Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Red vs. Blue: Season 15 (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Eagle Rock Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Van Morrison: In Concert

Ei Independent Cinema

02/13/18 — Released Racy Reels from the Something Weird Vault, Volume 1 (2 film set: Cries of Ecstasy, Blows of Death, Invasion of the Love Drones) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

FilmRise (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Flames

FUNimation

02/13/18 — Released Akiba's Trip (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack), Fairy Tail: Collection 11 (4 Blu-ray/4 DVD Combo Pack), Monster Hunter Stories Ride On, Season 1 Part 1 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) and Touken Ranbu Hanamaru, Season 1 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Above Ground Level: Dubfire, Alpha Gateway, Ballerina, Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape, Don't F*** in the Woods, Fixed and Gone Tomorrow

HBO Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Deuce: The Complete First Season (3 disc set) (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

Kino Lorber

02/13/18 — Released Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, Horror Double Feature (2 film set: Chaos, Don't Look in the Basement), Last Hunter, Thomas Crown Affair and V.I. Warshawski

Left Coast Rail Videos (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released BNSFs Kootenai River Sub and SP 4449 Daylight Along the River to Bend

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Ballad of Lefty Brown (with UltraViolet Digital Copy) and Hellraiser: Judgement a (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

02/20/18 — Sets Florida Project (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

03/06/18 — Sets Lady Bird (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

Magnolia Home Entertainment

02/13/18 — Released Blade of the Immortal (Japanese)

Mondo Macabro

02/13/18 — Released Blood Spattered Bride (Spanish)

Paramount Home Media

04/24/18 — Sets Grease: 40^th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

Samuel Goldwyn Films

02/13/18 — Released God's Own Country

Sentai FilmWorks

02/13/18 — Released Food Wars: Season 2 (2 disc set)

Severin Films, LLC

02/13/18 — Released Eaten Alive (Italian) and Threads

Shout! Factory

02/13/18 — Released Drag Me to Hell: Collector's Edition, Games, Halo: Legends, Halo: The Fall of Reach and Night of the Seagulls

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

04/10/18 — Released Outlander: Season Three (with UltraViolet Digital Copy) (5 disc set)

Synergetic

02/13/18 — Released Sami Blood (Swedish)

Tricoast Studios (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released 33 & Beyond: The Royal Art of Freemasonry

Uncork’d Entertainment (MOD)

02/13/18 — Released Almost Dead and Monolith

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

02/13/18 — Released Incredible Hulk (With UltraViolet Digital Copy)

VIZ Media

02/13/18 — Released Hunter X: Phantom Rouge (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) and Pokemon: The Movie - I Choose You

Vinegar Syndrome

03/27/18 — Sets Babyface II (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack), Star Time (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) and Welcome Home Brother Charles/Emma Mae (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

04/03/18 — Sets Father Figures (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)