New Theatrical Release Pace In Slumberland • Theatrical Catalog On DVD Smashing All Release Records

Slumberland.   That’s what the new theatrical release pace looks like as we head into the prime summer release months.

This past week the projected number of new releases hitting theatres nationwide by New Year’s Eve dropped to 511 from 512 … two weeks ago it was 510.  Stuck in a holding pattern.

 The top box projections remained fixed at 64 (the combined count of films grossing $25 million plus; $100 million plus) … the industry pre-pandemic average was 94.

The new entry in the hit film category this past week was director Louis Leterrier’s Fast X from Universal Pictures.   It popped an opening week total of $67 million and will easily zoom past the $100 million mark over the Memorial Day weekend.

To the best of our knowledge there were no big-budget films bypassing theatrical playdates to be streamed and immediately stolen by those every so helpful “helpers” … pirates, bootleggers, thieves, etc. are very “yesterday” terms for piracy, so we like “helpers” and “void-fillers” as the more appropriate description of such activities.  

Nothing on the order of director Niki Caro’s The Mother or director Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Crater this week.

Shifting over to “helper” activity, in just looking at the theatrical catalog release numbers, you would have to come to the conclusion that films released theatrically in the 1930s through 1980s have all lost their copyright protections.   Or, those that own such copyrights don’t have the desire or energy to enforce them.

There have been 21 street-date Tuesdays so far in 2023.   During those 21 release periods, we have recorded 4,669 sound-era theatrical catalog releases.    These are films that played theatrically from the 1930s through 1996 — 1997 was the launch year of DVD and that marks the cut-off point for theatrical catalog and the beginning of new theatrical releases.

Yes, it is somewhat arbitrary, but it does provide theatrical to home entertainment window data that has proven to be useful.

In any case, what does a total of 4,669 DVD theatrical catalog product offerings mean for the first 21 weeks of the year?

First, you have to put it into context.    What happened during the same 21-week periods during the past five years (as an example of context)?   Last year at this point the SKU-count was 2,508 … two years ago 812 (765 in 2020; 494 in 2019).

Second, where are all of these releases coming from?   From the companies that own the copyrights, either directly or through licensing deals?   The answer is NO!

Wait, doesn’t Warner Bros. own the MGM library (pre-1987), plus the RKO film library and, of course, the Warner Bros. library dating all the way back to the dawn of sound with The Jazz Singer!   The answer is yes.

Universal Pictures owns the Universal film library (Dracula, Frankenstein and more from 1930s and beyond), plus they purchased the Paramount library pre-1950s … Paramount owns the rest.    That’s another big chunk.   Throw in Sony Pictures with ownership of Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems and more … there’s another big chunk.

Lionsgate talks about a 17,000-title library that includes both theatrical releases and series programming … and don’t forget that Walt Disney Studios bought-up 20^th Century-Fox in 2019, so that’s a giant cache of films when you combine these two studio’s output dating from the 1930s.  

Lastly, remember that in May of 2021 Amazon bought my old alma mater, MGM, for $8.4 billion, which included the post-1987 MGM library, elements of the United Artists library, Orion Pictures, American International and some other odds and ends.

There, Warner Bros., Universal, Lionsgate, Paramount, Amazon, Disney/Fox and Sony Pictures have the super majority of theatrical catalog holdings.   Seven giants, and yet their combined share of the 4,669 theatrical catalog titles released on DVD through the first 21 weeks of 2023 is … 22.   That’s .47 percent (less than one-half of one-percent of the output).

Isn’t there a lot of talk about licensing library assets these days?   Legitimate DVD releasing companies — the Mill Creeks, Kino Lorbers, Criterions, Arrows, Severins and dozens of other well-known brand labels — must be where the action is taking place.  Again, NO!!  

They’ve kicked in a combined 36 DVD SKUs during the first 21 weeks of the year … that’s .77 percent.   The traditional “Hollywood” studios and the legitimate labels combined for 1.24 percent (58 SKUs) of pie.  

4,611, or 98.76 percent of all theatrical catalog releases have been from “helpers” during the first 21 weeks of the year.

Billions and billions of dollars have been spent amassing these vast film libraries only to see them sacked at rates never before witnessed in the history of home entertainment packaged media.   We are on a pace to see over 11,000 pirated titles in this category alone in 2023 … where is the fiduciary interests of management in all of this? 

 Do Executives View Piracy As Just A Cost Of Doing Business?

Indeed, it appears that we have a business that is run these days by executives who see piracy as simply a cost of doing business.

OK, they, the “Hollywood” studios, don’t care about DVD as a viable format any longer … the action is Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD.  Fair enough.

There have only been 430 Blu-ray releases in the theatrical catalog category through the first 21 weeks of 2023.   430 versus 4,669.  Talk about lopsided.

The studios kicked in 42 SKUs (9.77 percent), legitimate labels added 131 (30.47 percent) and the rest — 257 titles — were from “helper” activity, which works out to 59.77 percent of the total.

Simply put, Blu-ray is not being used for theatrical catalog releases by “helpers.”   DVD is backwards compatible and will play on Blu-ray players, so why bother with Blu-ray when DVD works just fine.

Theatrical catalog is the wild west these days … the vaults are open and it is just a cost of doing business.

Moving on, what got lifted elsewhere while the players were focusing on losing money on their streaming obsession this past week?

For starters, the Gozie AGBO/Amazon Studios’ series production of Citadel, starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas — and billed as one of the most expensive streaming series ever produced (on a per-episode basis) — began streaming on Amazon Prime at the end of April.   It found a home on Blu-ray this past week from a helper source … a $300 million production stolen.

Blu-ray being used for complete season series …not for the HD appeal, but for capacity.   That’s the creative way that helper sources use Blu-ray.

On the series front during this past week, we saw the following: American Born Chinese - Season 1 (Disney+), Better Than Us - Season 1 (Netflix), Big Door Prize - Season 1 (Apple TV+), Fubar: Season 1 (Netflix), Peripheral: Season 1 (Amazon Prime), Last of Us: The Complete First Season (MAX) and Serpent Queen: Season 1 (Starz) all released on either DVD or Blu-ray by helper sources.

On the movie front, Vertical Entertainment, with producing partners Doorbell Productions/Lola's Productions, saw director Junaid Syed’s War of the Worlds: The Attack given a nice Blu-ray launch by a “helper” label.  

Vertical Entertainment went shopping at the American Film Market last November and make a splash with the acquisition news.   The film had a limited theatrical break on Apr. 21 and a VOD push … Vertical will certainly release DVD and Blu-ray editions in the near future, but for now, someone beat them to it!

Finding Dory (Pixar/Disney), not a theatrical catalog title, but a new theatrical release (2016) has apparently fallen into the public domain as signaled by the DVD release from a “helper” source this past week.   Ditto for the Amazon Studio - Big Indie Pictures mini-series production of Daisy Jones & the Six … a three-disc DVD launch.

That’s it for this week … next week will be another horror show with Nero center stage fiddling while Rome burns.

 

 

 

 

Oscilloscope Laboratories Targets June 27 For The DVD And Blu-ray Debut Of Director Marq Evans' Claydream

Come for documentary filmmaker Marq Evans’ Claydream, but be sure and stay for the bonus of Will Vinton’s complete collection of animated short films, the subject of Evans’ documentary.

Oscilloscope Laboratories has tabbed June 27 as the street date for both DVD and Blu-ray editions of this marvelous presentation.

The subject of Claydream is Will Vinton, a sort of everyman who was interested in architecture and physics … and filmmaking.   He graduated from Berkeley in 1970 and one thing led to another and he eventually hooked up with fellow filmmaker Bob Gardiner, where they “invented” (for lack of a better term) the “claymation” form of stop-motion animation.   By 1975 the pair had an Oscar win for their short film, Closed Mondays.

Their relationship soon implodes and Vinton soldiers on.   He garners three additional Oscar nominations — Rip Van Winkle (1979), The Creation (1982) and The Great Cognito (1983) — and gets national attention with the “The California Raisins” commercial in 1986.

His career included movies and music videos and as he grew, the need for investors came up … to make movies requires money.   Enter Nike founder Phil Knight … lawsuits would follow when things went south.

The film Claydream documents the rise, the fall … the aftermath and Vinton’s losing battle with cancer.   A fascinating story onto itself of dreams and creativity and the ugly the side of the entertainment “business.” 

It is a stand-alone and worth it, but Oscilloscope has gone the extra mile with this package and has included all of Vinton’s animated short films.   These are: Closed Mondays (1974), Mountain Music (1976), Martin the Cobbler (1977), Claymation: Three-Dimensional Clay Animation (1978), Rip Van Winkle (1978), The Little Prince (1979), Legacy: A Very Short History of Natural Resources (1979), Dinosaur (1980), A Christmas Gift (1980), The Creation (1981) and The Great Cognito (1982).

Other bonus goodies include commentary by filmmaker Marq Evans (The Glamour & the Squalor), who is joined by producers Tamir Ardon (Audrey, Framing John DeLorean) and Kevin Moyer (Shut Up Anthony), deleted scenes and a rare voicemail (uncut) from Michael Jackson.

 

 

 

Severin Films Tabs July 25 For A Two-SKU Blu-ray Promotion Featuring Filmmaker Joe D'Amato

Oh my!!   Severin Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a dream collection — and stand-alone release — planned for the Blu-ray marketplace on July 25.

There are two elements here and they both include the documentary from the filmmaking team of Manlio Gomarasca and Massimiliano Zanin, Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess.   This is a film festival entry (it opened at the Venice Film Festival in September of 2021) — not just a by the numbers recap of Joe D'amato’s storied career.  

The film explores the prolific filmmaking output of D’Amato (on the order of 200 films), who began his career under the watchful eye and tutelage of such greats as Vittorio De Sica and Jean Renoir, but found an audience with his blend of horror, action and sexual/erotic adventures, included the Emanuelle film series.

If you are a D'amato fan or film collector Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess on Blu-ray is a must.

But wait — as is famously screamed in those late-night infomercials — THERE’S MORE!!   Included as a bonus with the documentary is his 1986 film, Scandalous Emanuelle, starring Laura Gemser, Jenny Tamburi and Lilly Carati.   Which was also released as Christina and Peep Show.

Bonus features include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Venice Film Festival introduction, outtakes and the featurette titled “Two of a Kind: Talking About Joe.”   Plus, Scandalous Emanuelle includes two featurettes — “Scandalous Christina” and “Peeping Lilli.”

That’s the first Blu-ray buying option from Severin Films on July 25.

The second is the colossal 13-disc Blu-ray collection (with two bonus CDs) titled The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle.   This includes Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess and Scandalous Emanuelle, plus 22 additional feature films from D'amato.

The collection includes: Black Emanuelle, Black Emanuelle 2, Emanuelle in Bangkok, Emanuelle in America, Emanuelle Around the World, Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Porno Nights of the World , Emanuelle and the Porno Nights of the World, Sister Emanuelle, Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade, Violence in a Women's Prison, Emanuelle in Prison, Black Cobra, Black Velvet, Emanuelle's Perverse Outburst, Porno Esotic Love, Divine Emanuelle, Emanuelle: Queen of the Desert, Amore Libero - Free Love, Emanuelle - A Woman From a Hot Country, Black Deep Throat, Porno Nights of the World N.2, Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess and Scandalous Emanuelle.

This is all backed with commentaries, numerous featurettes and more … indeed, a collector’s dream!!

 

 

 

Bayview Entertainment Readies Blu-ray Debuts Of Theta States And The Turn Of The Screen For Delivery On June 27

Bayview Entertainment has tabbed June 27 as the Blu-ray debut date for writer/director Manny Serrano’s mixed-genre fright treat, Theta States.

Be careful what you wish for, that’s the frightening lesson that working class schlub Danny (Tom Ryan — The Theatre of Terror, Return to the Theatre of Terror, Faces) is about to learn. 

It seems that he is plagued with a long-running fight with insomnia and it has taken its toll … he can barely function; his life is in ruins.   He wishes for a good night’s sleep; slumber uninterrupted.

In fact, his only saving grace these days is his girlfriend, Nicole (Kathryn Lill — Welcome to New York), sticks with him no matter how desperate things get.  At what point does she throw in the towel?

One fine day Danny gets to talking with Kelly — and to genre fans this is where Theta States becomes special — a fellow “employee.”   Kelly is played by none other than Erin Brown, but to her legions of fans she is known as sultry scream queen Misty Mundae, star of such treasured gems as Play-Mate of the Apes, An Erotic Vampire in Paris, Lust in the Mummy’s Tomb and writer/director Terry M. West’s The Lord of the G-Strings: The Femaleship of the String (and more, many, many more cinematic delights).

Kelly, who may be more than she appears to be, turns Danny on to a little-known clinic run by Dr. Zovnig (Tom Coll — Blood Slaughter Massacre) … Audible Lucid Perceptions.   Not a problem, the good doctor tells our boy, just take this recording, put on the ear phones and follow the instructions to the letter and your long-running insomnia nightmare will come to an end! 

Sleep yes, but Danny is in store for a whole new series of nightmares.   His perception of reality is put on overload — “did I sleep with Kelly last night?  Is she a demon?”  

Join Danny’s nightmare world on June 27 when Bayview Entertainment unleashes writer/director Manny Serrano’s Theta States on Blu-ray!

Bonus features include two separate commentary options and the behind-the-scenes featurette title “Building a Nightmare.”

Also heading home on June 27 from Bayview Entertainment, and in keeping with the “be careful what you wish for” theme, is writer/director Alex Galvin’s award-winning take on the Henry James classic, The Turn of the Screw.

Julia (Greer Phillips) is a struggling actress who needs a break; a chance.   As luck would have it, her wish comes true when she is offered — as a last-minute replacement — the role of the governess in the stage adaptation of James horror tale that is about to open at the local theatre (a rare New Zealand film production, shot in on location in Wellington).

Literally thrust into the action, Julia will do the final pre-opening run-through of the play in the theatre without an audience — just get in there and show us what you’ve got!!

OK, Henry James and “The Turn of the Screw,” plus the role of governess … it’s just a stage play, right?   Julia, as she does her performance, begins to suspect that this is the real deal, a haunted house filled with nightmares, that is all too real.   Be mindful of what you wish for!!

 

 

 

 

Mill Creek Entertainment Looks To July 18 For The DVD Collection Titled Director's Spotlight: Neil Labute • Your Friends And Neighbors • Nurse Betty • Possession • The Shape of Things

Mill Creek Entertainment announced this past week that July 18 will be the street date for a double-disc, four-film DVD promotion titled Director's Spotlight: Neil LaBute.

Playwright and first-time director Neil LaBute arrived on the scene in 1997 with the surprise Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker’s Trophy win for In the Company of Men (the film adaptation of his play), he was suddenly a very hot property.

Mill Creek Entertainment has gathered together the four films that followed this stunning breakout.

We begin with the 1998 film release of Your Friends & Neighbors, written and directed by LaBute, and featuring an “ensemble” cast of sex-starved and unhappy urban dwellers that includes Aaron Eckhart (as Chad in LaBute’s In the Company of Men), Catherine Keener, Nastassja Kinski, Jason Patric, Amy Brenneman and Ben Stiller.

This was followed by Nurse Betty in 2000, starring Renée Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear and once again Aaron Eckhart.   This is a surreal black comedy featuring Zellweger as a housewife — who has been traumatized and is now obsessed with a soap opera doctor (Greg Kinnear) — while being hunted by two hitmen (Freeman and Rock) who killed her husband (played by Eckhart).

Next in the series of films included in this collection is the 2002 release of the romantic drama, Possession, teaming Aaron Eckhart with Gwyneth Paltrow, as rival Victoria-era researchers and scholars who are fixated on the lives of poets Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam) and Christabel LaMotte (Jennifer Ehle).   Parallel “love stories” (of sorts) are played out, switching back and forth between the modern day and the Victorian era.

Rounding out this impressive collection is the second adaptation of one of LaBute’s stage plays, The Shape of Things (2003), starring Gretchen Mol, Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz and Fred Weller as college students who become romantically involved. 

 

 

4K Ultra HD Of Wes Craven's The Last House On The Left From Arrow Video On Aug. 29

There are landmark films that arrive on the scene that change the way films are made and seen.   Some arrive with great fanfare, while others simply are filmed on a limited budget, completed and exhibited — sometimes on a market-by-market basis (limited prints) — and the audiences who find them at their local theatre know that something is special in what they’ve just witnessed … the word spreads, the legend grows.

Such is the case with the 1972 film release of The Last House on the Left and its first-time director Wes Craven.   Shot on a production budget for under $100,000 on 16mm (blown-up to 35mm for exhibition), with the cast serving dual-capacities as members of the crew — David Hess (in his film debut), the chief villain of the piece, also was the composer of the film’s soundtrack — The Last House on the Left opened in the fall of 1972 on a sporadic market-by-market basis.  

Reviews at the time ranged from savage to glowing.  It is now legend … a turning point in how horror films would be made.  

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack presentation lined up for release on Aug. 29.

During the exhibition rollout back in 1972 various cuts were made here and there to get the film into theatres (a fact of life).   Arrow Video gives us two viewing options for The Last House on the Left … the theatrical cut and the 2009 uncut restoration.

Other bonus nuggets include commentary by authors and film scholars David Flint (“Babylon Blue: An Illustrated History of Adult Cinema 1960-1998,” “Zombie Holocaust: How the Living Dead Devoured Pop Culture”) and Adrian Smith, deleted scenes, four featurettes — “A River of Blood,” “The Notorious Krug,” “Suspending Disbelief” and “Reviving the Legend” — and more.

There will also be a double-disc Blu-ray purchasing options featuring both of the aforementioned cuts of the film.