By the way, before we get started, a number of you have asked us about the street date for 20th Century and Disney’s new James Cameron 4K UHD catalog titles—Aliens, The Abyss, and True Lies. Apparently, select online retailers have been showing release dates other than 3/12. This, I’m told, is simply related to those retailers making adjustments as they try to get enough stock to meet demand. Disney has confirmed that the street date for all three titles is definitely 3/12. So if you see anything else online, just ignore it.
Now then... in title news, it appears that Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) is officially going to arrive on both 4K Ultra HD and 4K UHD Steelbook on 4/23. We’ve shared the Steelbook cover before, but you’ll wind the wide-release Amaray artwork below.
It also appears that while Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Ocean’s Twelve (2004), and Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) will street in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook in the UK, the US release may be an Ocean’s Trilogy 4K UHD box set instead, featuring all three films in a single package. And sources suggest these will feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio, but we’ll have to wait for Warner’s official announcement to confirm that.
And Warner and DC Studios are expected to release Harley Quinn: The Complete Fourth Season on Blu-ray on 4/23.
In terms of actual announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed that John Waters’ Cry-Baby (1990) is coming to 4K Ultra HD on 4/30. Also coming that day on Blu-ray only are Edgar G. Ulmer’s Bluebeard (1944) and Fritz Lang’s Secret Beyond the Door (1947).
From our friends at the Criterion Collection, their Janus Contemporaries will release Shaunak Sen’s documentary All That Breathes (2022) on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/28.
The Cinema Guild will release Laura Citarella’s Trenque Lauquen (2022) on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23.
Discotek Media will release Eiichi Yamamoto’s animated classic Belladonna of Sadness (1973) on 4K UHD and Blu-ray combo on 5/28. You can see the cover artwork below.
Paramount and Nickelodeon have set Good Burger 2 for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/26. The Digital version is already available.
And Paramount has also set Land of Bad for DVD release on 5/14, with the Digital version due on 3/19.
In industry news, word is that Warner Bros. Discovery is now out of the running to merge with or purchase Paramount Global. Apparently, Skydance Media is now the clear frontrunner, and is well into its legal and financial due diligence on the deal. But Skydance is apparently only interested in the film studios, which means it would probably seek to sell CBS and possibly merge Paramount+ with Peacock. You can read more here at CNBC.
Meanwhile, there’s a great feature profile on The Criterion Collection over on New York Times Magazine (if you have access to it) that’s entertaining and well worth a read for movie and disc fans.
Finally this afternoon, Media Play News is getting ready to hold their annual Home Entertainment Media Play Awards for which I’m a judge again this year. But you all can weigh in too with your picks by clicking here on the banner below (you have until March 31 to pick your favorites)...
We’ll leave you today with a look at the cover artwork for some of the titles mentioned above and more, with Amazon pre-order links if available...
Stay tuned...
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