Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

[Finch]

Wishful thinking at this stage really though Arrow did get Fox titles in the past. Arrow came to my mind as they'd be the perfect fit of the UK boutique labels for The Fly but we'll see if Disney will license more catalogue titles or if they only release those three Cameron films because of the clout he has.

[beamish14]

Strange Days would be a good title for Arrow

Blood In, Blood Out and the bizarrely absent from Disney+/Hulu Something Wicked This Way Comes (with its original, Georges Delerue-scored cut, which has been preserved)

[swo17]

Disney released a Movie Club Exclusive Blu-ray of Something Wicked

[beamish14]

Disney released a Movie Club Exclusive Blu-ray of Something Wicked

I forgot about that. The laserdisc features a great (and very critical) commentary featuring Ray Bradbury that is on YouTube. There is so much material that a label like Arrow could use for a release

[beamish14]

Freaked (1993) would be wonderful, too. Anchor Bay produced an incredibly stacked disc for DVD, and it’s been OOP for years

[dwk]

Wishful thinking at this stage really though Arrow did get Fox titles in the past. Arrow came to my mind as they'd be the perfect fit of the UK boutique labels for The Fly but we'll see if Disney will license more catalogue titles or if they only release those three Cameron films because of the clout he has.

Ok. Given the way Disney acted towards Signal One in the UK and, to a lesser extent, Kino, I don't hold out much hope of them opening up the Fox titles to the boutiques.

[beamish14]

Wishful thinking at this stage really though Arrow did get Fox titles in the past. Arrow came to my mind as they'd be the perfect fit of the UK boutique labels for The Fly but we'll see if Disney will license more catalogue titles or if they only release those three Cameron films because of the clout he has.

Ok. Given the way Disney acted towards Signal One in the UK and, to a lesser extent, Kino, I don't hold out much hope of them opening up the Fox titles to the boutiques.

Isn’t Disney basically getting out of the physical media game? Those Touchstone titles are just gathering cobwebs

[dwk]

Isn’t Disney basically getting out of the physical media game? Those Touchstone titles are just gathering cobwebs

Mostly yes, but they seem to not care about exploiting most of their back catalog. I think they think selling the Pixar, Marvel, animated Disney titles, big catalog titles from Fox (like the recently announced James Cameron titles) and new releases is enough. And they may be right.

[Finch]

Bob Iger's comments earlier this year seem to suggest that they're paying more attention to physical media again, and this was followed by streaming titles like Mandalorian and Prey getting discs, and now catalogue titles like the Cameron trio in 2024. That feels like a course correction to me. Is there any studio that hasn't lost money on their streamer this year?

[dwk]

No, I can't think of any streaming service that isn't losing money. (Which makes me wonder how the Critwrion Channel and other smaller services are doing.)

[MichaelB]

I’m dropping a few streaming services now that they’re coming up for renewal. The problem with luring people in via tempting half price (or less) sign-up offers is that when I’m facing a substantially bigger bill for year two, I have to ask myself whether I really want, say, Paramount Plus that much. And the answer in that case was “no”.

[Drucker]

No, I can't think of any streaming service that isn't losing money. (Which makes me wonder how the Critwrion Channel and other smaller services are doing.)

Yes but those losses are tied to (I would say excessive) production budgets. The broadcasters have basically started an additional television channel which requires "premium" programming from scratch. I don't know if Criterion is profitable but they aren't going to have the overhead that Peacock, Disney+, or AppleTV has.

[FrauBlucher]

Bob Iger's comments earlier this year seem to suggest that they're paying more attention to physical media again, and this was followed by streaming titles like Mandalorian and Prey getting discs, and now catalogue titles like the Cameron trio in 2024. That feels like a course correction to me. Is there any studio that hasn't lost money on their streamer this year?

I think catalogue has become too broad a term. It's not a surprise to see Fox/Iger treating the Cameron films differently than the Fox films from the 1940s and 1950s. It's a shame these Golden Age of Hollywood films will be held hostage by this studio

[dwk]

Yes but those losses are tied to (I would say excessive) production budgets. The broadcasters have basically started an additional television channel which requires "premium" programming from scratch. I don't know if Criterion is profitable but they aren't going to have the overhead that Peacock, Disney+, or AppleTV has.

While Criterion does do new interviews and introductions for the channel, you are right they don't have the overhead of other streamers.

I guess stuff like Tubi is profitable, but that is an advertising based model not a subscription service.

[dwk]

The UK UHD of The Abyss has been cancelled because Lightstorm vetoed releasing it with the BBFC mandated cut (the rat breathing liquid scene.)

[What A Disgrace]

I can excuse bad restorations, but I draw the line at a wet wunkus.

[MichaelB]

The UK UHD of The Abyss has been cancelled because Lightstorm vetoed releasing it with the BBFC mandated cut (the rat breathing liquid scene.)

Legally mandated cut, to be strictly correct - the BBFC’s hands were tied.

(The relevant legislation is the 1937 Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act.)

[dwk]

The UK UHD of The Abyss has been cancelled because Lightstorm vetoed releasing it with the BBFC mandated cut (the rat breathing liquid scene.)

Legally mandated cut, to be strictly correct - the BBFC’s hands were tied.

(The relevant legislation is the 1937 Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act.)

I know, but it is still ridiculous that the scene in question, in which the rat is not harmed, is cut but things like a mouse getting fed to a cat in Inferno pass uncut because someone claimed (most likely lied) that they just happened to catch the cat eating a mouse.

[MichaelB]

But the rat clearly was harmed, as it was visibly absolutely terrified, and no wonder - it legitimately thought it was drowning.

And terrifying an animal is explicitly proscribed by the Animals Act. Cruelty doesn’t have to leave a physical mark.

[tenia]

Weren't any previous release and showing of the movie with this cut cut anyway ? Or is it something the BBFC didn't know before and is requesting now to be cut as per the law ?

[Dr Amicus]

I think it's always been cut. Funnily enough, the scene in question was shown on tv years ago back in one of those America's Top Ten shows that ITV or Channel 4 showed at 2am over a weekend - it was the clip chosen when the film either had opened or was about to.

[Mr Sausage]

The trouble with that scene is it’s not extraneous. It’s adding crucial plot information.

[flyonthewall2983]

In a more abstract way such a stumbling block is more then a bit indicative what a pain in the ass it was to make, since by most accounts it was a grueling shoot.