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the Frighteners (Director's Cut) (Peter Jackson) September 13
Jurassic Park trilogy October 24/5

I've seen listings lately of Universal titles being re-released on Blu-ray/DVD combo + Digital copies at a much lower price, for example Hot Fuzz.

Hey guys, so i have it on very good authority that the following is coming from Universal next year (skipping the Jan/Feb stuff that's already been announced):

Feb.
M.O.D.: Marlene Dietrich double feature
Standard blu:
2/14 - Johnny English
2/21 - Honey

March
Blu combo (all 3/6): The Deer Hunter, Harvey, The Nutty Professor, Parenthood, Out of Africa
DVD (all 3/6): Charade, The Egg and I, Francis the Talking Mule, The Last Temptation of Christ, My Man Godfrey, Sullivan's Travels, Three Smart Girls
repackaged blu combo & dvd (3/6): The Blues Brothers, Despicable Me, Meet the Parents
Repackaged dvd (3/6): Car Wash, The Deer Hunter*, Destry Rides Again, Duck Soup, Harvey, The Jerk, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Nutty Professor, Parenthood
Standard blu:
3/6 - Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat, Dragonheart, The Quest (all bd)
3/20 - American Pie, American Pie 2, American Wedding (all bd combo)

April
Blu combo (4/17): Buck Privates
M.O.D.: Joel Mccrea westerns
Standard blu:
4/3 - Evan Almighty, Life, Nutty Professor II (all bd)
4/10 - Definitely Maybe, Meet Joe Black (int'l. bd)

May: 5/1
Blu combo: Pillow Talk
Standard blu: About a Boy, Mystery Men, Sea of Love (all bd)

June
M.O.D.: 1950's melodrama
Blu combo (6/5): Back to the Future, Erin Brockovich, Sixteen Candles, Smokey and the Bandit, The Sting
Repackaged blu combo & dvd (6/5): American Pie, The Big Lebowski, Casino, The Fast and the Furious, King Kong, The Mummy '99, Animal House, Spartacus, United 93
Repackaged dvd (6/5): Back to the Future, Earthquake, Erin Brockovich, High Plains Drifter, Sixteen Candles, Smokey and the Bandit, The Sting, Winchester '73
Standard blu (6/5): Blues Brothers 2000 (int'l), Liar Liar (bd), Scent of a Woman (bd/dvd)

July
Blu combo (7/3): Born on the Fourth of July
Repackaged dvd (7/3): Born on the Fourth of July

Aug.
Blu combo & dvd (8/14): Jaws
M.O.D.: Universal rarities
Standard blu (8/7): Andromeda Strain, Jaws 3 3d (both bd)

Sept.
Blu combo (9/4): Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Airport (also dvd), Double Indemnity, Jurassic Park (also dvd)
Repackaged blu combo + dvd (9/4): Atonement, Bridesmaids, Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Out of Africa, Scarface '83
Repackaged dvd (9/4): The Birds*, Double Indemnity*, The Incredible Shrinking Man, It Came From Outer Space, Psycho*, Scarface '32, Vertigo*
Blu-ray Alfred Hitchcock set (9/4): Not certain, but thinking this will contain The Birds, Psycho, and Vertigo
Standard blu (9/4): Rumble Fish, Slap Shot, Streets of Fire (all bd)

Oct.
Blu combo & dvd (10/23): E.T. 30th
Blu & dvd classic monsters set (10/23): Not sure, but think this will have Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy '32, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Creature From The Black Lagoon and possibly The Hunchback of Notre Dame '23 and The Phantom of the Opera '25 & '43
M.O.D.: Billy Wilder collection
Standard blu (10/2): The Bone Collector, Bride of Chucky, Fear, Holiday Inn 70th anniversary (all bd)

Nov.
Blu & dvd 100th anniversary set (11/6)

Dec.
M.O.D.: film noir

* = new 1-disc dvd

Holy shit, I'm not on a real computer but someone save that post before Universal makes it go away

How many times would this mean that they've released The Egg and I. It's at least the third by my count.

Wow! Some great classics on Blu-ray and amazing-sounding MOD sets. Knew that Jaws, E.T., and the three Hitchcocks were likely for 2012, but the rest is pretty surprising. Note that March has some Criterion releases on (presumably) bare bones DVDs. Really pleasantly surprised that those two Abbott & Costello films, Double Indemnity, Harvey, and all those Uni Monsters are going Blu.

The Wilder Universal films are The Major and the Minor, Five Graves to Cairo, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, The Emperor Waltz, A Foreign Affair, and The Front Page (1974). Wonder if it will only include the previously unavailable films? Only Five Graves and A Foreign Affair remain unreleased in region one. They both shoulda gone to Criterion, but I guess we take what we can get.

Between these titles and the stuff they've farmed out to Criterion and MoC, they've got a great year in store.

Jeff wrote:The Wilder Universal films are The Major and the Minor, Five Graves to Cairo, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, The Emperor Waltz, A Foreign Affair, and The Front Page (1974). Wonder if it will only include the previously unavailable films? Only Five Graves and A Foreign Affair remain unreleased in region one. They both shoulda gone to Criterion, but I guess we take what we can get.

I was just thinking about that and the deal's gotta include some of his unreleased screenwriting flix that are (I believe) now owned by Universal, like Rhythm on the River and Arise My Love

They better not screw up the ticker-tape subtitles on The Andromeda Strain again like they did on the DVD.

Also disappointing to see there's a repackaged High Plains Drifter DVD when it desperately needs an upgrade, preferably to blu-ray.

I can't wait for the Hitchcocks though, although hope they have individual releases as already have Psycho.

I am very curious to see what is in those 50's Melodrama and Universal rarities M.O.D releases.

Jeff wrote:Knew that Jaws, E.T., and the three Hitchcocks were likely for 2012

Wouldn't Rear Window likely be in the box too? Seems unlikely that they'd go with only a 3-disc box when Window's out there available too.

Noiradelic wrote:Wouldn't Rear Window likely be in the box too? Seems unlikely that they'd go with only a 3-disc box when Window's out there available too.

Yeah. I didn't read that carefully. I was under the impression that Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Birds were the Hitchcocks in the works, so I assumed that's what the box would include

I am very curious to see what is in those 50's Melodrama and Universal rarities M.O.D releases.

Hopefully these rarities include some of their early 70s experiments, like Diary of a Mad Housewife or Puzzle of a Downfall Child... or The Last Movie.

justeleblanc wrote:

I am very curious to see what is in those 50's Melodrama and Universal rarities M.O.D releases.

Hopefully these rarities include some of their early 70s experiments, like Diary of a Mad Housewife or Puzzle of a Downfall Child... or The Last Movie.

That all sounds great, but region 2 is getting a Blu of Puzzle of a Downfall Child with a 52 minute Schatzberg interview. After the Cannes presentation this year, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Criterion licensed this.

justeleblanc wrote:

I am very curious to see what is in those 50's Melodrama and Universal rarities M.O.D releases.

Hopefully these rarities include some of their early 70s experiments, like Diary of a Mad Housewife or Puzzle of a Downfall Child... or The Last Movie.

I was going to bring up "I never thought I would say this, but I wish Universal had The Last Movie still" after seeing this news, but I believe the Hopper estate has the dvd rights still. Could be wrong, but he got the rights before his death and was planning a dvd release for it. As much as I would rather not see it on some M.O.D. collection without any sort of extras or the doc The American Dreamer, I can't say I wouldn't be happy that it finally has a release.

The Last Movie with The American Dreamer could be a great Night of the Hunter type Criterion release, but I doubt anyone could get the rights back during the Hopper estate legal battles.

baguettes wrote:DVD (all 3/6): Charade, The Egg and I, Francis the Talking Mule, The Last Temptation of Christ, My Man Godfrey, Sullivan's Travels, Three Smart Girls

So, three Criterions that have not yet been released on Blu-Ray yet are getting regular DVD releases. Could this mean that those three films are finally getting Blu-Rays in March as well? That would go nicely with the "maybe" Criterion used for the status of a Last Temptation Blu.

Don't understand why Duck Soup is getting re-packaged again and there are no Marx Brothers blus, but excited for the Hitchcocks, Dietrich, and Universal Monsters!

Drucker wrote:Don't understand why Duck Soup is getting re-packaged again

I think most of these repackagings will amount to a "Universal 100th Anniversary" slipcase.

Looks like this list might be legit. Jaws has been confirmed for August 14 by the digital bits, which matches the release date on this list.

Jeff wrote:

Drucker wrote:Don't understand why Duck Soup is getting re-packaged again

I think most of these repackagings will amount to a "Universal 100th Anniversary" slipcase.

It might have more (I mean some) extras. For example, All Quiet… is also being repackaged for 100th Anniversary series, but in addition to Osborne's intro carried from the old Universal Classics DVD, the new one will include a silent version as well

I believe (I might be wrong) that only the Blu-ray edition of All Quiet on the Western Front will include the silent version.

Actually, you might be right. The only source of info I had is the back cover posted on Amazon, and this info is, at the very list, ambiguous.

What's more, I believe this cover is not a final one, since, for example, To Kill a Mockingbird is posted twice with 2 different front covers and almost identical backs. All three look somewhat different; there no consistency one could expect from a series, though they did look like updated Legacy Collection series:

Those covers actually do look pretty close to being final: basically you likely will be getting a choice between a cheaper, blu-ray cased version of Mockingbird (you're probably seeing its slipcover), or a digibook that costs 10 buck more. Same two discs. Western Front is apparently digibook only.

The Digital Bits:

First, Universal has set Out of Africa for Universal 100th Anniversary Collector's Series Blu-ray/DVD combo release on 3/6. We've asked the studio whether this is a new transfer or just a re-issue of the existing version, and HAVE CONFIRMED that this is a newly-remastered version that should be far superior to the existing disc. Here's hoping they revisit Kubrick's Spartacus soon as well. Speaking of catalog BDs, the studio has also set The Deer Hunter, The Nutty Professor, Parenthood and Harvey (1950) for Universal 100th Anniversary Blu-ray release on 3/6 as well

I was excited for a moment, and then I realized that they probably meant Eddie Murphy Nutty Professor. I'm going to go cry now.

The Lewis is or was a Paramount title, so yeah