'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.1

[Jeff]

It looks to me as if CC has had or will have availability to "Letter From an Unknown Woman" (they did the LD?) and Rialto has just re-released "Lola Montez" with a poster that looks just like the three CC just release so that is pretty much a given, non?

Sony has the rights to Letter, and there is no indication that they will be licensing them to Criterion for DVD. Since Rialto, not Janus, is the U.S. rights-holder for Lola, they will want to let it have several months in its theatrical run before licensing it to Criterion for DVD. Odds are that Criterion will release Lola eventually, and could theoretically box it with the available Ophuls titles.

[Narshty]

As far as I know, Letter from an Unknown Woman is with Lionsgate with the rest of the Republic library. But Lola Montes is a given in 2009 (if I were a betting man, I'd wager August).

[jaredsap]

Sony has the rights to Letter,

Nope.

[AfterTheRain]

Criterion's got another Sir Alexander Korda film on the way. I got this reply from Mulvaney:

We do intend to release "The Four Feathers" at some point, though it does not have a scheduled release date at this time.

With Things to Come and Jungle Book in addition to The Thief of Bagdad, The Four Feathers (1939) now makes for four over a two year span.

[ianungstad]

Criterion's got another Sir Alexander Korda film on the way. I got this reply from Mulvaney:

We do intend to release "The Four Feathers" at some point, though it does not have a scheduled release date at this time.

With Things to Come and Jungle Book in addition to The Thief of Bagdad, The Four Feathers (1939) now makes for four over a two year span.

I think it's a safe bet they have most if not all the Korda/London Films stuff. I'm sure some of the more minor titles like The Ghost goes West and The Man Who Could Work Miracles will get dumped into some future Eclipse set.

The Four Feathers, Jungle Book, and Things to Come are amongst the higher profile acquisitions from that catalogue, so I'm sure they'll all get nice releases.

[Jeff]

Sony has the rights to Letter,

Nope.

Oops. My mind was on The Reckless Moment. The earlier comment about Lionsgate having Letter From An Unknown Woman should be correct. It was actually one of the Republic titles that Paramount announced and then canceled when they decided to license to Lionsgate.

[zedz]

Since Rialto, not Janus, is the U.S. rights-holder for Lola, they will want to let it have several months in its theatrical run before licensing it to Criterion for DVD. Odds are that Criterion will release Lola eventually, and could theoretically box it with the available Ophuls titles.

Pure speculation on my part, but the cover / poster art and packaging on these films suggests that Criterion had a 'French 50s Ophuls' box set in mind from the outset. Maybe Rialto's Lola arrangements came late and threw a spanner in the works, necessitating the break-up of the titles.

My guess is that when Lola is released, or soon after, all four titles will become available as a 'collector's set', and that, after an outcry, the poor schmucks who bought the titles individually will be able to get the box to house them direct from Criterion. And that this offer will not be available to non-US residents!

[Jeff]

My guess is that when Lola is released, or soon after, all four titles will become available as a 'collector's set', and that, after an outcry, the poor schmucks who bought the titles individually will be able to get the box to house them direct from Criterion. And that this offer will not be available to non-US residents!

Bingo.

[Cinephrenic]

I'm wondering about The Private Life of Henry VIII. Did anyone catch it on TV last night?

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

And what about Cry, the Beloved Country?

Oh, and gobama.

[justeleblanc]

Question was on Gray's Anatomy, Le Petit Soldat and Les Carabiniers

Answer:

As far as I know, we have no plans for "Le Petit Soldat." We do plan to release "Gray's Anatomy" at some point, but it's not on the current schedule. Feel free to check back, and thanks for your e-mail!

Les Carabiniers was omitted.

Les Petit Soldat and Les Carabiniers are both currently Genius/Weinstein, and they were rumored to be on their Miriam label, but now I don't know what has become of them.

There are still 3 Godard titles pending in the Criterion queue: My Life to Live, 2 or 3 Things, and Made in USA....
Though I wouldn't mind seeing Criterion versions of King Lear, Numero Deux, and of course the full Dziga Vertov monty

[kekid]

I received the following response from Jon Mulvaney regarding Antonioni's "Red Desert".
For me this is great news, and offsets my disappointment with the bfi Blu Ray being region-coded.

We do plan to release "Red Desert" but a specific date has not yet been scheduled. I hope this helps!

Best,
JM

[ianungstad]

No. It started because the Home Theater forum arranged a meet and greet with the various Hollywood studios including Paramount. They got to sit down and ask questions with the Paramount Home Entertainment brass. Questions about the status of several MIA titles like the African Queen, Wings and Looking for Mr.Goodbar were asked. Paramount mentioned that Wings will recieve a release from Criterion. The other two are at Paramount.

Maybe Mulvaney gave you that reply because it's still too far on the horizon or he's just being coy. No release date was specified, so it may not even be till next year. I don't think you can get much more confirmation than having a Paramount rep say "Criterion will be releasing this film on DVD." Anyways here is the message I got from the HTF site administrator Adam Gregorich who was at the Paramount luncheon: The conversations were more one on one and the only time Criterion was mentioned was when they talked about the Wings release.

Not that it matters but I asked about the Exterminating Angel in July and got a "we have no plans at this time" then it was the newsletter clue a few months later, which apparently isn't all that unusual.

[Cinephrenic]

I found out about two more forthcoming Paramount titles from Criterion.

This info comes from a recent visit to the Paramount lot by the Home Theatre Forum. I was told this by two of the people on that site who attended via private message.

Criterion and Paramount will be putting out the silent film Wings on DVD as well as the french thriller The Confession by Costa Gravas. Great news on both IMO! I wonder how many films in total the Criterion/Paramount deal will bel. Legend films got 36...so it's possible the Criterion deal is just as big.

With The Wedding March and whatever Sternburg stuff comes out, it seems that they've picked up a number of silent titles via Paramount, which surprises me somewhat to be honest.

So The Confession is not reliable too then?

[Dadapass]

Emailed Mulvaney about The Mother and the Whore and any of Andy Warhol's films.
He said no to both.

[Antoine Doinel]

No. It started because the Home Theater forum arranged a meet and greet with the various Hollywood studios including Paramount. They got to sit down and ask questions with the Paramount Home Entertainment brass. Questions about the status of several MIA titles like the African Queen, Wings and Looking for Mr.Goodbar were asked. Paramount mentioned that Wings will recieve a release from Criterion. The other two are at Paramount.

Maybe Mulvaney gave you that reply because it's still too far on the horizon or he's just being coy. No release date was specified, so it may not even be till next year. I don't think you can get much more confirmation than having a Paramount rep say "Criterion will be releasing this film on DVD." Anyways here is the message I got from the HTF site administrator Adam Gregorich who was at the Paramount luncheon: The conversations were more one on one and the only time Criterion was mentioned was when they talked about the Wings release.

Not that it matters but I asked about the Exterminating Angel in July and got a "we have no plans at this time" then it was the newsletter clue a few months later, which apparently isn't all that unusual.

I would guess Mulvaney is keeping quiet on Wings until there is something in place that's signed.

And what did they say about The African Queen? Is that coming in any of the foreseeable future?

[ianungstad]

They hope to work on a DVD of The African Queen soon but they don't want to commit to a release date. Apparently it's been held up due to rights issues.

Looking for Mr.Goodbar was not licensed to Criterion and Paramount has no plans to do anything with the title.

I had asked about The Confession before, Mulvaney replied that he was not able to comment on the forthcoming Costa Gavras titles. It was mentioned during this meeting with Paramount as well. So it seemed logical that since Paramount said it was coming and Mulvaney said no comment, that it was one of those Gavras titles Criterion acquired.

I think both titles came from legit sources and belong in the random speculation thread. I wouldn't discredit Wings based off that Mulvaney email.

[Gigi M.]

From the Digital Bits:

I've also learned, directly from Paramount while visiting the studio with our friends at The Home Theater Forum last week, that the studios is FINALLY working on new HD transfers of Wings (1927) and The African Queen, hopefully for release in 2009 on both DVD and Blu-ray.

[HerrSchreck]

Wings has been definitely confirmed for CC, right? If so, I guess this is a case where CC is simply licensing the transfer from the studio, rather than running it themselves. Of course, Kline or Palazzola (or Garvin) could be on-premises and supervising the effort.

Personally, though I'll be happy to see Wings on disc in a nice restored transfer, and am happy anytime a silent makes it onto the CC, I find it a bit of a... random choice.

[domino harvey]

My guess is someone from HTF mistook syntax and assumed Criterion was working on Wings, not the Gravas film. This was more than a "No plans" response from Mulvaney, this was a genuine "We don't know how this rumor started." A very different thing. Wings being on Criterion never made sense, and this "from the horse's mouth" denial confirms it won't be as far as I'm concerned.

[HerrSchreck]

Holy shite, I didn't even see that last bunch of posts on the previous page.

You mean the Wenders film Wings of Desire?

Personally, reading that stuff over on the prev page I can't see how someone could take Mulvaney's denial and still think CC is putting Wings the silent film out. First of all it's so random as to make almost no sense. Secondly, JM has no problem confirming titles a la "We do plan to release _______ at some point in the future put currently do not have it on the schedule. Check back from time to time and keep an eye on our newsletters."

Paramount is working on the telecine on this domestic title. Although it's not a non-occurence (particularly with big-studio licenses) CC usually prefers to run their own telecine, or at least sit in on the transfer.

No way is this coming from CC. I've been keeping my "whuh?!" quiet since this rumor began because I didn't wanta be a party poop.

Now it can be told...

[Props55]

There's no title in Paramount's back library (sound or silent) that they enjoy crowing about more than WINGS, ("the first movie to win an Academy Award (TM) for Best Picture of the Year!") so I've always been a bit skeptical of any announcement to "outsource" it. I wonder if their corporate pride extends to SHANE. It could certainly use the full bore Criterion treatment. In addition to a complete picture and sound overhaul it would be nice to again hear Brandon Dewilde's last line which mysteriously disappeared between the VHS editions and the lackluster, genericly packaged DVD.

[Cinephrenic]

Wings was a rumor by a member on the Home Theater forum, and not confirmation from Criterion or otherwise. I have taken it off the list as Mulvaney (whom has been greatly forthcoming with upcoming title news) has said "NO".

[Perkins Cobb]

Once again, the HTF proves its worth.