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The new 4k resto trailer from Rialto

Restored in 4K from the original negative by Studiocanal at L'Immagine Ritrovata, with color correction by Jean Achache on behalf of Bertrand Tavernier.

BD upgrade coming Aug 11. Specs still missing from website entry.

any reason to get this instead of the Canal box?

The only thing I can think of is a regrade but they normally don't advertise those in the specs.

Specs have now been uploaded:

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Interview from 2001 with director Bertrand Tavernier
New interview with critic and poet Robert Polito about source-novel author Jim Thompson
Making-of program featuring on-set footage and interviews with members of the cast and crew
Alternate ending
Trailers
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by scholar Lynn Anthony Higgins

New cover by Sean Phillips

The new subtitle translation is reason enough for me; if memory serves the subs on the existing Blu aren't great.

I wonder if the Canal+ controversy helped accelerate this one...getting them out before things get worse.

Love the artwork; I hope they won't fuck up the color grading (I remember Philippe Noiret took care of choosing the right color with his pale-pink shirt) - there has been a blu-ray released several years ago in France and I was not satisfied with it. Hope that Criterion will start from scratch.
This is one of my favorite B.Tavernier movie.
EDIT: after a quick look on the Criterion web-page : this has the infamous greenish-blueish color grading from a famous lab/restoration. Better keep an old blu-ray. Sad. Sad. Sad.

I was disappointed that this is not going to be released in 4K.
I suspect it will be the same disc (apart from the extras) as in the big Tavernier box released in France.
However, this film did not have English subtitles in that box, which makes this an essential purchase for English-speaking folks.
Also the English-friendly extras add value.
If it had been released in 4K UHD it would have been a no-brainer.

It's already out in the English-friendly UK set and that's how I watched it.

However, this film did not have English subtitles in that box

I have a French Blu-Ray (Studio Canal) and the back cover states "Anglais subs".

It looks like there is a new essay as well. Anyone familiar with Lynn Anthony Higgins' writings?

Higgins wrote the book on Tavernier in the French Film Directors series. Her analysis of Coup de torchon in the book focuses mainly on its genre and historical aspects (not so much on form). From the opening paragraph:

Lynn Anthony Higgins wrote:Coup de torchon demonstrates how the Western is a variant of melodrama. It is Tavernier’s most modern work. It is also, to my mind, his masterpiece.

I have not read the book cover to cover, but from what I've sampled it contains some useful information and writing. Though we have our differences of opinion, I'm sure she'll make a devoted advocate for the film.