In announcement news today (while we’re talking Sony), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has also just announced a new 40th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD release of Joel Schumacher’s St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) that’s due on 6/24. Scanned in 4K from the original camera negative, the disc will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio plus the original 5.1 and 2.0 audio, plus legacy special features.
Here’s a nice surprise: Universal and Studio Distribution Services have just revealed a new Jurassic Park Trilogy: Limited Edition 4K Steelbook release which is set to street on 6/17 (SRP $64.98). And it claims to be “newly remastered” with all films now including Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio, including Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) as well as Joe Johnston’s Jurassic Park III (2001). All three films were released in 4K back in 2018 but with HDR10 high dynamic range and DTS:X audio. We suspect this is what’s meant by newly remastered—the new Dolby Vision grade. We don’t know if additional remastering has been done on any of the films, but if we’re able to learn more we’ll be sure to share an update here. In the meantime, the set will include all of the same archival featurettes and special features from the previous 4K SKUs, which we’ve reviewed here at The Bits, as well as Digital Copy codes. Here’s what the set looks like (click on the image to visit the Amazon pre-order page)...
Also this afternoon, our friends at The Warner Archive Collection have announced the 50 animated shorts that will be included on their Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray, which is due on 6/17. The first 25 on Disc One have never been included remastered on any DVD or Blu-ray: Bars and Stripes Forever (1939), Beauty and the Beast (1934), A Day at the Zoo (1939), The Dixie Fryer (1960), Double or Mutton (1955), Each Dawn I Crow (1949), Easy Peckin’s (1953), Feather Dusted (1955), A Fox in a Fix (1951), Good Night Elmer (1940), The Goofy Gophers (1947), I’d Love to Take Orders from You (1936), A Kiddies Kitty (1955), Let It Be Me (1936), Of Fox and Hounds (1940), Quackodile Tears (1962), Ready, Woolen and Able (1960), Robin Hood Makes Good (1939), The Squawkin’ Hawk (1942), Terrier-Stricken (1952), Tweet and Lovely (1959), Tweety’s Circus (1955), Two’s a Crowd (1950), Wild About Hurry (1959), and Zip ‘N Snort (1961).
The second 25 on Disc Two have never been remastered in HD before: Ain’t She Tweet (1952), Banty Raids (1963), Birth of a Notion (1947), Bye, Bye Bluebeard (1949), Cat-Tails for Two (1953), Daffy Dilly (1948), Daffy Duck & Egghead (1938), Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z (1956), Gonzales’ Tamales (1957), Hare Conditioned (1945), Hare Trigger (1945), Hare Trimmed (1953), Horton Hatches the Egg (1942), Little Boy Boo (1954), Much Ado About Nutting (1953), Odor-able Kitty (1945), Past Perfumance (1955), Porky’s Duck Hunt (1937), Rabbit Punch (1948), Red Riding Hoodwinked (1955), Rhapsody Rabbit (1946), Snow Business (1953), Tom Turk and Daffy (1944), Two Crows From Tacos (1956), and Zoom and Bored (1957). Here’s what the packaging looks like...
And Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of David Ayer’s A Working Man (2025) for release on 6/10. Also coming to Digital only on 4/29 is Shaun Silva’s Day of Reckoning (2025) on 4/29.
Also, as you can see above, Lionsgate is now taking pre-orders for Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Freaky Tales (2025) in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray in special “Late Night Video Edition” VHS-style packaging. The SRP is $42.99, but Lionsgate Limited has it up for $29.99. You can find that here.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just officially set Mimi Leder’s The Peacemaker (1997) for 4K Ultra HD release on 6/24. It will include a new Dolby Vision master from Paramount, based on a 4K scan of the film, and the release will include a pair of new audio commentaries with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson and a second with film journalist Laurence Lerman. And it will be released on a 100GB disc.
And for those who may be interested, all of Criterion’s July Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles are now available for pre-order from Amazon here...
In other news today, there are a pair of great new appearances by filmmaker Lilly Wachowski in which she talks about the Matrix films and many of the Wachowskis other films as well. First, our friend Steve Weintraub at Collider has shared a good interview (available here). She’s also just participated in an audience Q&A following screenings of The Matrix Revolutions at the Academy Museum in LA (click here for that). So if you’re a fan of the Wachowskis’ work, you may find these interesting.
Finally, don’t forget that today is the day that Tony Gilroy and Lucasfilm finally drop the first trio of episodes of the second season of Andor on Disney+, the Star Wars prequel series. It’ll be available starting at 6 PM Pacific/9 PM Eastern tonight. I’ll certainly be watching, and I’m guessing many of you will be as well. Enjoy!
That’s all for now. Stay tuned...
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)