In addition, the good Dr. Jahnke has posted a new Bottom Shelf column today in which he addresses the some of the positives and negatives of the Blu-ray catalog output of indie label Twilight Time.  The column is well worth your time and it’s also timely, because a prime example of something Adam talks about in the piece is happening as we speak – namely that Twilight’s upcoming Body Double “limited edition” Blu-ray release is almost sold out in pre-orders.  Just 3,000 copies are available and they’re already nearly gone.  It’s a frustrating problem for many fans of these films, who can’t get copies pre-ordered in time before they’re out.  Making matters worse is the fact that secondary market dealers buy multiple copies of Twilight Time titles to sell on eBay at greatly inflated prices once the title is sold out.  Anyway, give the piece a read and I think you’ll appreciate Adam’s points.

Finally today (following up on our post from last Thursday), I’ve heard back unofficially from my sources regarding the running time of Warner’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Extended Edition release.  Essentially what I’ve been told is that director Peter Jackson’s estimate (given in select interviews a few months back, that 20-25 minutes of footage would likely be added back into the film for the Extended Cut) was essentially just a guess at the time, as he hadn’t yet even started to cut the longer version.  So there’s nothing sinister going on with the fact that the Extended Cut turned out to only be 13 minutes longer – the cut is exactly the way he wanted it and it’s just the way it worked out in the editing room.  The production team is seriously under the gun at the moment working to finish Desolation of Smaug for its December release, so Jackson may comment officially on this or not.  In any case, recognizing that this information probably isn’t going to satisfy some fans, that’s the deal.

Back tomorrow.  Stay tuned… 

- Bill Hunt