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Perhaps a stretch, but if it was Warner, Kino would be a logical US candidate to release MGM silents.

I'm guessing it's Universal. Other than Criterion and Shout Factory they haven't been as exploited in the 3rd party license deals, and their holdings are extensive.

Has to be Universal. Their burn-on-demand series was anemic, and they never even bothered with major films from Jerry Schatzberg, Frank Perry and John Huston.

Misterlime has now shot down Universal. Curiouser and Curiouser.

Here's a thought if it's Sony - perhaps they realized how poor the reception to $25 BDRs has been, and instead of moving forward with that program they have licensed the titles planned for such releases to Kino.

... and maybe a percentage of the lapsed Sony/Twilight Time titles will end up with Kino.

The new deal is with Disney. See here

This would theoretically include the ABC Pictures films and lots of Touchstone/Hollywood Pictures titles.

If it really does include ABC pictures, does that mean
we might finally see Ingmar Bergman's 'The Touch'
on some kind of digital media?

MisterLime:

"So we don't get ahead of ourselves, here's what I can share with you:

I'm sorry, but at this time, they are not willing to license any title they've released on DVD under their own banner. We have titles from the ABC, Selznick, Touchstone and Hollywood libraries. This was a package deal, mostly pre-selected, so to get all the gems, we also had to pick up a few lesser titles." Said Here

My Top 3 would be They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Kundun and Open Range.

EDIT: "Under their own banner" means any previous DVD release from Buena Vista, whether branded as Disney, Touchstone, etc. That eliminates the possibility of titles like Kundun and Open Range. But maybe it means Walt Disney Pictures titles without a previous DVD release via Buena Vista are a possibility?

He literally copped to the fact that they're going to be releasing "lesser titles"?

domino harvey wrote:He literally copped to the fact that they're going to be releasing "lesser titles"?

He did add this to the end of that comment via an edit: "but as we know, some of those lesser titles are also regularly requested. "

He's stated the same a little bit ago in general to getting these package libraries:

"Yes, sometimes we pickup a title because either a key person at the company wants us to release it or because its an important film we're proud to be releasing, even if we're sure it'll be a poor performer. This is usually okay as long as we have some strong titles in the same package that'll cover those potential losses. Not everyone does this, but we've done this before and we'll do it again.

Sometimes, we end up picking up a package which includes lesser titles we would've never acquired, but to get the gems, we also need to pick up a few stinkers. Other times we add some lesser titles to the deal because they're available for the right price.

It's great when we pickup a title for the love of the film and non-monetary reasons and it ends selling well." Said here

And:

"GORP is one of those we got stuck with. But we didn't pay much for it, it had an HD master and we had both DVD and BD rights. So we actually came ahead on that title." Said here

I hope it doesn't include the 3 Hitchcocks because I'd rather see them come back to Criterion.

I can't see how it doesn't include the four* Hitchcocks and Straw Dogs as they are part of the Selznick/ABC package. Even if they don't reissue them, they're surely part of the package of titles licensed from those holdings.

*The Paradine Case being the 4th

I think it is likely that they picked up the Hitchcocks and Straw Dogs, but he didn't say they picked up all the Selznick or ABC titles, just that they have titles from those libraries. So it is possible (but unlikely) that Criterion got the pick(s) of the litter before Disney licensed Kino their batch.

I would hope they don't bother with the Hitchcocks MGM already upgraded, but I'd love to see them put out the Paradine Case, even though it's so lousy! And captveg, your number one want is mine as well, and you have to assume They Shoot Horses, Don't They? will be one of the first titles announced given it's the one they keep getting asked about (for good cause)

isn't John Boorman's Hell in the Pacific with Buena Vista? Friedkin/Pinter's The Birthday Party, too

I also assume Quiz Show will be released since it doesn't have a US release yet!

captveg wrote:GORP is one of those we got stuck with. But we didn't pay much for it, it had an HD master and we had both DVD and BD rights. So we actually came ahead on that title." Said here

I was trying to figure out what GORP stood for, thinking it was an acronym, but nope, that's an actual movie.

Costa wrote:I also assume Quiz Show will be released since it doesn't have a US release yet!

More than likely. I bought the Australian Blu-ray, which actually has a really nice presentation. It's an all-region release so I'm not sure why Disney didn't bother with it here. I always thought a really good special edition could be done for the film, considering the subject matter, but I'm not sure how all-out Kino would go with it (probably won't do anything) so it's a little disappointing they'll probably be dealing with it.

"They are not willing to license any title they've released on DVD under their own banner(s) - Buena Vista, Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood or whatever else company they own." Said here

To my count, this eliminates 99% of the Touchstone/Hollywood Pictures titles, leaving just these 11 that did not get a Buena Vista US DVD release.

Touchstone:

Off Beat (1986)
Tough Guys (1986)
The Rescue (1988)
True Identity (1991)
Little Indian, Big City (1994)
The Jerky Boys (1995)

Hollywood Pictures:

Run (1991)
Passed Away (1992)
The Air Up There (1994)
Shadow Conspiracy (1997)
Firelight (1997)

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Chris, Kino has actually been producing extras for a lot of their releases. Say what you want about Mister Lime but he does tend to listen to his audience

Ah, I admittedly haven't bought a lot of the big studio licensed ones, but the ones I have bought are mostly barebones (mostly the MGM ones) so I guess I just thought that was a trend.

So, even if they release all 11 of the Touchstone/Hollywood titles I listed above, that leaves 90+ titles from the ABC Pictures and Selznick. That's gotta be nearly the entire library of those titles, right?

That leaves a lot left over still. At least according to IMDB between Selznick and ABC there's only about 50 films some of which are public domain.

Hmmmm... I wonder then if there are some Walt Disney Pictures branded titles that were never released on DVD in the deal. Which begs the question about the elephant in the room....

Song of the South (1946)


I just can't see that happening.