New Theatrical Release Trends Through February • Piracy Fueled By Stupidy • Greed • Fear

There is good news on the theatrical release front.   And, some not so good news.

 * projected based on 2015-2019 averages for the same period

The good news first.   Generally speaking, 12.5 percent of all new theatrical releases take place during the first two months of each year.   While the number is still small, it does set the tone for how the year is likely to play out.

So far, 2023 is trending well above the pandemic years, with 64 films looking to reach the top two boxes in terms of domestic box office receipts ($25 million to $100 million; $100 million or greater).  

Why those thresholds?  It takes a combination of theatres, weeks at play, P&A and continued audience interest to get to the minimum of $25 million at the box office … most films fall well short of that mark.

The 64-film projection is up from the final counts of 46 in 2022; 44 is 2021 and a measly 12 in all of 2020.   Positive to be sure.

The bad news, 64 is still well short of the 89 to 98 range of the five most recent pre-pandemic years.   But the trend is at least headed in the right direction.

The really bad news remains unchecked piracy driven by the lust of the various streaming platforms to make that failing business model their number one priority.  

In 2022, just four “Hollywood” studios — Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros. and Disney — lost roughly $800 million per month (by their own financial reporting).   And as they, in these same year-end announcements, see more red ink in 2023, they collectively “hope” that it won’t be as bad.

Sorry, but $800 million in loses each month is both insane and not sustainable.

Of the five films with confirmed home entertainment packaged media street dates, only the directing team of Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick’s Missing has yet to be pirated (its first streaming date is Mar. 7 … so expect multiple sources to have Blu-ray and/or DVD editions available within days after that).  A Man Called Otto, M3GAN, Plane and Magic Mike’s Last Dance have all been attacked by multiple sources (M3GAN is so popular it even got a 4K Ultra HD knockoff).

Disney Media and Entertainment has done an excellent job of letting director James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water play out in theatres, but with the announcement that Mar. 28 will be the multi-platform streaming date (without Blu-ray, DVD or 4K Ultra HD product offerings), expect a piracy bonanza to follow within hours of the first complete showing.    

As streaming is being fed by a lethal combination of stupidity, greed and fear, the “Hollywood” studios, seem hellbent on destroying the theatrical distribution model that they spent 100 years building.   Perhaps, just perhaps (hopefully), at some point in 2023 it will become obvious that the emperor has no clothes and the insanity stops; order is restored.   Profits follow.

To compound the self-destructive impulse that dominates the entertainment business even further, the vast film libraries produced during the sound era (1930 to 1996, the launch year of DVD) are now being pirated at numbers so massive that even the Caribbean buccaneers of lore would blush.   The “Hollywood” studios have neither the resources or the focus to deal with the onslaught.

Although the focus here is on New Theatrical piracy, the “Hollywood” studios are not the only players who seem blissfully unaware of what is taking place with their productions.   Amazon Prime, Netflix … and on and on, also are being picked clean.   Amazon Studios, as just one example, by their own numbers has something on the order of 2,700 people working at the Culver City headquarters and there seems to be no one in that group that checks on their programs being pirated. 

Maybe piracy is just a baked-in cost of doing business these days.   Perhaps staffing is composed Alfred E. “What, Me Worry?” Neuman clones … could be!

Check back at the end of March for the next update.   Until then.

 

Icarus Films Restores Director Georges Lacombe's Martin Roumagnac For DVD Release On Apr. 18

Icarus Films had some stunning film restoration news this past week.   This would be none other than French director Georges Lacombe’s 1946 film adaptation of Pierre-René Wolf’s pre-war novel (1935), Martin Roumagnac.

Noted for the teaming of real-life lovers, Jean Gabin and Marlene Dietrich, in their only screen appearance together, Martin Roumagnac is a new 2K film restoration that will be available for fans to enjoy on DVD is this coming Apr. 18.

Pre-war sensibilities; post-war realities and before the French New Wave arrived … Lacombe as a realist, with two illustrious film legends to tell his tragic tale.  Perfection!

The film opened in France theatrically during the Christmas holiday of 1946, but did not reach these shores — retitled as The Room Upstairs — until the Labor Day weekend of 1948.   Earlier that same summer (1948), Dietrich lit up the screen in Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair … a wonderful summer for Dietrich fans to be sure!

Jean Gabin (Pépé le Moko, The Grand Illusion, Port of Shadows) plays the title character, Martin Roumagnac, a construction contractor living in rural France with his sister (played by Margo Lion), who is hard at work on building a villa of his own.  

Into this pristine place comes the black widow, Blanche Ferrand (Dietrich), with her “uncle” (Jean d'Yd) in tow.  The only reason she is there is that she “inherited” a local business from her recently deceased husband.

Once in town, she spots her next target, Laubry (Marcel Herrand), she needs for his already dying wife to, well, die.   In the meantime, Blanche becomes the obsession of the ineffectual local teacher (played by Daniel Gélin) — there will be others — and by chance meets Martin and they become miss-matched lovers — he is nothing more than an amusement while she waits patiently for Laubry’s wife to die.

This volatile mix will lead to murder, an elaborate set of lies to cover up the crime and a tragic end to Martin.   All fully restored!   Glorious!!

Martin Roumagnac on DVD from Icarus Films on Apr. 18.   Presented in French with English subtitles.

 

 

 

L.A. Wars Obtains Rewind Collection Blu-ray Status From MVD Entertainment Group For Release On May 16

After a lull, MVD Entertainment Group is back with news this past week that the company’s popular “MVD Rewind Collection” Blu-ray line of film products has a new member joining the family on May 16 with the release of L.A. Wars.

Producer/writer/director Tony Kandah, with co-direction by Martin Morris, took to the streets of Los Angeles on a micro-budget — shooting on 16mm — and with a former kicking boxing champion, Vince Murdocco (Ring of Fire, Private Wars, Kickboxer 2: The Road Back, Night Hunter), as their lead.   Reports are they shot the film in under two weeks.

Surprise, L.A. Wars is an effective action flick … 91-minutes-worth of non-stop action; entertainment beyond all expectations and a perfect addition to MVD’s Rewind series.

Jake Quinn (Murdocco) is now just a bouncer, muscle at the club, but before this come-down he was a police officer who crossed the line by dispensing street justice to a child-molester — some might call him a hero.  

He’s minding his own business — doing what bouncers do — when a bunch of thugs working for drug dearer Raul Guzman (played by Rodrigo Obregón — Collateral Damage, Enemy Gold, Savage Beach) attempt to kidnap rival drug lord Carlo Giovani’s (A.J. Stephans) hotter-than-hot daughter, Carla (Mary E. Zilba).   No contest, the lovely lady is saved.

Impressed, Giovani offers Jake a marvelous opportunity … become Carla’s personal bodyguard.   Of course, how can he say no that!  

Things get complicated very quickly.   First, Giovani’s righthand man, Vinnie Scoletti (Johnny Venocur), has his eye on Carla and doesn’t like it for one minute that Jake is going to be “looking” out for her day and night.   Second, Guzman is more determined than ever to take Giovani down … and finally, Jake’s former boss, Captain Roark (David Jean Thomas) makes him an offer he can’t resist — go undercover and bring Giovani down and you can be a cop again!!

Oh yes, and one more little complication.   His first night on the job and Carla seduces him.   Vinnie melts down over that and ends switching sides … and we are just getting started!

Like we said, L.A. Wars delivers the action … non-stop, at that with Jake caught in the middle of warring drug gangs and Carla looking for some action of her own.   Whew!

Bonus goodies include commentary with filmmaker Tony Kandah, who is joined by “Cereal at Midnight” host Heath Hollard, plus two extended featurettes — “Starting a War” and Shoot First.”

 

 

Mill Creek Entertainment Preps Maria Bamford: Stand-Up Spotlight For A DVD Release On May 09

Mill Creek Entertainment has its next center stage “Stand-Up Spotlight” DVD lined up for delivery on May 9.

Maria Bamford: Stand-Up Spotlight is the third in the series (so far), with Jim Gaffigan: Stand-Up Spotlight (featuring Noble Ape and Quality Time) and Mike Birbiglia: Stand-Up Spotlight (showcasing the What I Should Have Said was Nothing and My Girlfriend's Boyfriend comedy specials) being set for release on Mar. 28.

So what comedy specials are included in the Maria Bamford: Stand-Up Spotlight DVD?   For starters, we have her 2020 feature-length special titled Maria Bamford: Weakness is the Brand.

Bamford’s humor is self-effacing and doesn’t skip over the mental health issues that have been a part of her life.  Instead, she embraces them and makes the elephant in the room the center of her stand-up musings.   There are some truly inspired routines, like how she’s been paying an online therapist $200 a session who clearly has no idea which patient is which (but the advice, even though not intended for her, “helpful”) … or telling the audience that comedy on stage is what she’s doing — standup comedy — even if it leaves them puzzled.   Huh?  What?   It’s damn funny.

Teamed with Maria Bamford: Weakness is the Brand is her 2012 comedy special, Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special! (which was picked up by Netflix for broadcast in 2014). 

Here Bamford talks about to-do lists and baby steps … the punch line is “master and defeat death.”  Keep it simple … her audience, her mother and father … who are parked on a couch, it’s a funny set up; even a bit surreal.   Weird, strange and very, very funny.

Make a mental note, no, better yet, write it down.   May 9 on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment, Maria Bamford: Stand-Up Spotlight featuring two full-length comedy specials — Maria Bamford: Weakness is the Brand and Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special!

 

 

 

 

Director Michael Mann's Blackhat Arrives On May 30 From Arrow Video As A 4K Ultra HD Edition

Filmmaker Michael Mann started the Hannibal Lecter craze with Manhunter in 1986, The Last of the Mohicans followed in 1992 and Heat was a hit in 1995 … The Insider (1999), Ali (2001) and Collateral (2004) all followed.  

He teamed up with Martin Scorsese for The Aviator in 2004 (as producer … Best Picture nomination) and then back to directing with Miami Vice in 2006 and Public Enemies in 2009.   By any standard, that’s an impressive film list.

Six years passed — producing only — and then came the release in 2015 of one of his most misunderstood films, Blackhat.

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, announced this past week that a 4K Ultra HD edition of Blackhat will be heading home on May 30.

Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers, Thor, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron) stars as Nick Hathaway, a “super” hacker doing hard time for his activities, but as “luck” would have it another hacker (or hackers) tripped the coolant system in a Hong Kong nuclear plant into meltdown mode.   It seems that the software used was something that Nick was involved with when he was a student at MIT.

His old roommate, Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang), is now a military officer with the communist government of China and very much into cyber security.   His sister, Chen Lien (Tang Wei), as “luck” would have it is a cyber engineer (one of those small world things … times two).

In any case, Chen Dawai hooks up with the FBI after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is also hacked (same software) and requests that Nick be cut loose to help track down the source of the cyber-attacks in exchange for his freedom.

That’s your set-up.   Who do you like in this one?   The Chinese?   A self-professed hacker criminal?   It is the same set-up, for the most part, as Heat — anti-heroes (one and all) — that you find yourself rooting for.   A mystery; a thriller.

Bonus features include commentary by film critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry and five featurettes — “Firewall,” “Zero Day Threat,” “The Cyber Threat,” “On Location Around the World” and “Creating Reality.”

 

 

 

 

Deep Impact: 25th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD Edition From Paramount Home Entertainment On May 02

Paramount Home Entertainment revealed this past week that director Mimi Leder’s 1998 apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, Deep Impact, will be celebrating its 25^th Anniversary with a remaster 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack edition on May 2.

It begins with an amateur astronomer, Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood), making an ELE discovery in the night sky — that ELE is short for Extinction-Level-Event.  A rogue comet is heading for earth and humankind must unite to destroy the onrushing comet or all is lost!

Bonus features include commentary from director Mimi Leder and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, an extensive photo gallery and four featurettes — “Preparing for the End,” “Making an Impact,” “Creating the Perfect Traffic Jam” and “Parting Thoughts.”

 

Director Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike's Last Dance On Blu-ray And DVD From Warner Bros. Home Entertainment On Apr. 14

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment looks to Apr. 14 as the street date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions of director Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike's Last Dance, starring Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek.

The ARR is a swift-to-market 67 days and box office receipts currently stand at $23.1 (although it will easily surpass the “magic” $25 million mark before ending its theatrical run).

Bonus features include a deleted scene and the featurette titled “Magic Mike's New Moves.”

In other release news this week from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the next 4K promotion celebrating the 100^th Anniversary of the studio will be the Apr. 18 release of Superman I-IV: 5-Film Collection.

This will be a five 4K Ultra HD/five Blu-ray Combo Pack and showcasing the four Christopher Reeve as Superman series — Superman: The Movie (1978), Superman II (1979), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) — plus the 2006 releases of Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.

Superman: The Movie has made the rounds as a 4K Ultra HD release, the others are all new to the format.

As to bonus goodies, Superman II features commentary from Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler, a deleted scene, documentary filmmaker Iain Johnstone’s 1980 television special titled The Making of Superman II and nine classic Fleischer Studios’ theatrical cartoons starring Superman that ran from 1941 through 1942 — First Flight, The Mechanical Monster, Billion Dollar Limited, The Arctic Giant, The Bulleteers, The Magnetic Telescope, Electric Earthquake, Volcano and Terror on the Midway.

The bonus features for Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut include commentary from Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz, a half-dozen deleted scenes, an introduction by Richard Donner and the featurette title “Superman II: Retoring the Vision.”   Additionally, there are eight Famous Studios cartoons.

Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler provide commentary on Superman III, plus there are 11 deleted scenes and documentary filmmaker Iain Johnstone’s 1985 television special titled The Making of Superman III.

Rounding out the bonus features for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a commentary by Mark Rosenthal, the 1988 television special titled Superman: 50^th Anniversary Special and a whopping 15 deleted scenes.