Dune: Part Two pre-orders, Amélie, Killer Klowns & Valiant Ones in 4K, plus the Academy will debut the new 4K restoration of Amadeus in May

Monday, 04 March 2024 18:58

Dune: Part Two pre-orders, Amélie, Killer Klowns & Valiant Ones in 4K, plus the Academy will debut the new 4K restoration of Amadeus in May

by Bill Hunt

We have several new disc reviews to begin the week here at The Bits, starting with...

Stuart’s take on Raoul Walsh’s Gentleman Jim (1942) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Dennis thoughts on Michael Epstein’s LennonNYC (2010) on Blu-ray from Via Vision Entertainment and Peter Yates’ Murphy’s War (1971) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Stephen’s look at Bill Plympton’s The Tune (1992) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And finally, Tim’s review of Ardman Animations’ Shaun the Sheep: The Complete Series on Blu-ray from Shout! Studios.

We also have a bunch of new announcement news for you today, but first this: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has listed Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two for Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook pre-order on Amazon. The street date is TBA, but is likely due in May or June. There will also be a 2-Film Collection in both 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

Now, a lot of you have asked what aspect ratio Dune: Part Two will be in on disc. As many of you know, Dune: Part One was shot mostly in 2.39:1 but about an hour was in full 1.90:1. Yet Warner’s Blu-ray and 4K release were both in 2.39 only. Meanwhile, most of Dune: Part Two was shot in 1.90:1, with about forty minutes in the full 1.43:1 IMAX ratio. So people are wondering if the Blu-ray and 4K will preserve that variable IMAX ratio, and if Part One will ever be re-released on both formats with the variable ratio as well. I’ve asked Warner for clarification on this and will share it here when they reply. Meanwhile, you can find the studio’s temp cover art (with Amazon links) below the break. [Read on here...]

Now then, Sony has just officially set Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s newly-remastered Amélie (2001) for release on Blu-ray Steelbook on 3/26. The disc will offer its original French soundtrack in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio format, and will include the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet Looks Back featurette, along with all of the previous legacy extras. You can see the packaging above left and also below.

Shout! Factory has begun to unveil its May slate, which is set to include a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray double feature of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan’s animated The Addams Family (2019) and The Addams Family 2 (2021) on 5/7, followed by Stephen Chiodo’s Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) in a new 35th Anniversary Edition in 4K Ultra HD and 4K Steelbook, Patrick Lussier’s Dracula 2000 on Blu-ray, and Jaume Collet-Serra’s Orphan (2009) on Blu-ray all on 5/14, and Osgood Perkins’ Gretel & Hansel (2020) in 4K Ultra HD and John Frankenheimer’s The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) on Blu-ray on 5/21. Killer Klowns will also be available in a range of Shout! Store exclusive SKUs with a variety of swag options. You can see some of the cover art for these below as well.

Paramount will apparently be releasing a Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray on 5/28. This will likely be the same remastered disc released recently, just in new packaging.

While we’re talking Star Trek III, our friends over at The Inglorious Treksperts have just uploaded a whopper of a 300th episode, featuring Star Trek: Picard – Season Three producer/showrunner Terry Matalas, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell, and Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige all talking about their love for the film! No kidding, it’s a terrific episode and you can check it out here.

Sony has already set Madame Web for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K UHD Steelbook on 4/30, for those hardy few of you who might want to add it to your collections.

Arrow Video’s wide-release 4K Ultra HD versions of Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and Barbarella have all been set for release on 4/30.

Our friends at Blue Underground have set Bob Clark’s Deathdream (1974) for release in 4K Ultra HD on 5/21.

Eureka! Entertainment will release King Hu’s wuxia classic The Valiant Ones (1975) on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 5/28 as part of their Masters of Cinema line.

Vinegar Syndrome will release Freddie Francis’ Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) on 4K Ultra HD on 4/30.

And finally, Kino Lorber Studio Classic has set John Farrow’s Submarine Command (1951) for release on Blu-ray on 4/30, along with Charles Vidor’s Thunder in the East (1952). The company has also announced that Peter Collinson’s Fright (1971) is coming soon to 4K Ultra HD. Street date is TBA.

And we have just one other piece of news to share with you today, which is that the Academy Museum here in Los Angeles is going to be hosting the debut screening of the Academy Film Archive and Saul Zaentz Company’s new 4K restoration of Miloš Forman’s Amadeus on 5/31. You can see the screening details here. This would seem like an obvious candidate for physical 4K Ultra HD release, either by Warner Bros. or licensed to the Criterion Collection. Either way, watch for further news in the weeks and months ahead.

We’ll leave you with a look the cover artwork for many of the titles mentioned above, all with Amazon.com pre-orders links (and don’t forget that anytime you pre-order literally everything from Amazon through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it)...

Stay tuned...

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Dune: Part Two pre-orders, Amélie, Killer Klowns & Valiant Ones in 4K, plus the Academy will debut the new 4K restoration of Amadeus in May

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