For one thing, I can confirm that 20th Century Studios and Disney are working to bring James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) to 4K Ultra HD along with The Abyss (1989) (including BOTH cuts of the film) and True Lies (1994) in the next few months. All three films have been fully remastered in 4K from new scans of the original camera negatives. More on that soon.
Meanwhile, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston held a special screening of Little Shop of Horrors (1986) last night, with director Frank Oz in attendance. In a Q&A after the screening, Oz revealed that the film is coming to 4K Ultra HD next year from Warner Bros. And in fact, I can indeed confirm that this is true, per our own industry sources here at The Bits. Special thanks to Bits reader David A. for the report from the screening!
I can also confirm that Warner will finally be releasing David Fincher’s Se7en (1995) on 4K Ultra HD next year, along with Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (2013). Both films were originally planned for 4K release this year, but Fincher and Cuarón took their time in approving the remastering work. (Fincher was personally involved, as he revealed to Variety back in July, and he’s notorious for taking his sweet time with such things. By the way, don’t expect Fight Club in 4K anytime soon for this very reason)
In other announcement news, Paramount has finally officially set the Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K UHD Steelbook release of Jeff Rowe’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem for 12/12. Look for Dolby Atmos audio, plus the following featurettes (TEENage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Mutant Uprising, New York, New York: The Visual World of Mutant Mayhem, and Learn to Draw Leo).
Neon has made their 4K Ultra HD release of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy (2003) official for release on 12/12. We’re awaiting final cover artwork, but the 2-disc package will include: “a 68-page casebound book; three new essays by writers Stephanie Zacharek, David Sims, and Phoebe Chen; six gift-wrapped collector cards; audio commentary with Park Chan-wook, Cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon, and actors Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jung; the 2016 feature-length documentary Old Days: An Oldboy Story; exclusive deleted scenes, behind the scenes featurettes, archival cast and crew interviews, teasers, trailers, music videos, photo galleries, and storyboards; and a brand new interview with Park Chan-wook and Nicolas Winding Refn – all in addition to the film itself, which was restored and remastered in 4K HDR supervised by Park.”
StudioCanal has announced the 4K Ultra HD release of Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) in the UK on 11/13. The film is also going back into theaters in the UK on 11/24. Extras on the 4K release will include an Interview with Mrs. Claus: Judy Cornwell, The Making of Santa Claus, Shooting the Press Conference Scene, and Deleted Scenes.
Universal has set André Øvredal’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 10/17. Unfortunately, no 4K release is currently planned here in the States. But this definitely strikes me as the kind of title that Universal could circle back to on 4K UHD in the months ahead (not unlike M3GAN and Parasite), if the Blu-ray sells well. Extras will include an alternate opening, 8 deleted scenes, audio commentary with Øvredal and producer Bradley J. Fischer, and 3 featurettes (From the Pits of Hell: Dracula Reimagined, Evil Is Aboard: The Making of The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and Dracula & the Digital Age).
Finally, Warner Bros. has just announced the theatrical release of Blitz Bazawule’s The Color Purple on 12/25 (with an international theatrical release expected to open on 1/18). So look for the long-awaited 4K Ultra HD release of Steven Spielberg’s original film to arrive sometime in Q4 of this year or Q1 of 2024.
That’s all for now! Stay tuned...
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