Fox and Universal Licenses

[beamish13]

Has anyone ever heard rumblings of Criterion picking up AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD from Universal?
That studio is just sitting on so many great movies: CLOSET LAND, PLAY IT AS IT LAYS, RED SKY AT MORNING, the 1949 noir-tinged GREAT GATSBY...

[hearthesilence]

Does Universal hold the rights to all the Sternberg/Dietrich collaborations in the U.S.? They're all out on mediocre DVDs- would love to see Criterion put a jumbo box together..

FWIW, aren't most (if not all) of those films Paramount releases? I thought the negatives were long destroyed for all the Paramount films from that era that were later sold to Universal, so the best sources extant are all dupes of varying quality?

[flyonthewall2983]

Just throwing this out there, but I'd like to see Criterion get their hands on Strange Days. Fox has never really done much with it, it has earned something of a cult following since, and it's director has since become recognized more for her talent then back then.

[colinr0380]

I'm a fan of Strange Days too, and while obviously dated in its millennial setting that also helps it to work as an interesting snapshot of 1990s cultural influences (even down to Juliette Lewis and Tom Sizemore turning up to add a bit of Natural Born Killers dangerously edgy support into to the mix just a year after the Oliver Stone film!). I also think this works as a great double bill with the other experience sharing machine sci-fi film Brainstorm, though while Brainstorm narrows down in its final act into a viscerally emotional experience of engaging with loved ones, Strange Days doesn't reproduce the same one-on-one physical connection (in other words you don't die yourself if you replay the experience of someone else dying in Bigelow's film!), but instead uses its sci-fi device as a way of looking at how captured, 'private' images affect society when they get broadcast more widely, with the film continually, impressively expanding its scope ever wider.

(By the way, I wonder if the serial killer subplot is meant to be a homage to the killer's motives in Blow Out?)

[Aunt Peg]

Has anyone ever heard rumblings of Criterion picking up AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD from Universal?
That studio is just sitting on so many great movies: CLOSET LAND, PLAY IT AS IT LAYS, RED SKY AT MORNING, the 1949 noir-tinged GREAT GATSBY...

I believe that music right issues are preventing a release of Red Sky at Morning. If I recall correctly this information came from Richard Thomas.

[flyonthewall2983]

How long has Universal been licensing titles out? It feels that of all the major studios they've been with them the longest.

[Ashirg]

Of the studios still with them, Universal is the longest (Brazil - July 1999). Orion was since almost the beginning - This Is Spinal Tap and The Silence of the Lambs - July 1998. Also Touchstone/Buena Vista with Armageddon since April 1999, but I'm unsure of their current status.

[cdnchris]

Their relationship with Universal has certainly been the most fruitful one they have, with the most titles (45 or so I believe), and spilled over from the LaserDisc days.

According the licensing information on their respective discs both This is Spinal Tap and Sid & Nancy were licensed from New Line (also one they had in the LaserDisc days), so of the majors I guess you could argue that they have the oldest relationship, and the announcement of My Own Private Idaho suggests it's technically still there (albeit through Warner Bros. now). But it obviously hasn't been as steady as Universal. Disney was pretty good to them early on, too (again, it also started in the LaserDisc days where Disney basically contracted them for special editions), starting with Armageddon. They haven't licensed anything new since Chungking Express, opting just for Blu-ray reissues of previously released titles like the Andersons since then. Disney still seems willing to license stuff out so I'm curious why they haven't gone after some of their Touchstone and Hollywood library.

[FrauBlucher]

Hopefully, Universal will let Criterion upgrade My Man Godrey with the 4k resto they are planning.

[ryannichols7]

I'd have to imagine:

Written on the Wind
Missing
Trouble in Paradise
Walker
Spartacus
Do the Right Thing

will all come at some point soon as well. hopefully DTRT will look better than Universal's disc. not sure what others I forgot.

[AfterTheRain]

I'd have to imagine:

Written on the Wind
Missing
Trouble in Paradise
Walker
Spartacus
Do the Right Thing

will all come at some point soon as well. hopefully DTRT will look better than Universal's disc. not sure what others I forgot.

The Naked City and Brute Force would also be likely candidates as well.

[ryannichols7]

I'd have to imagine:

Written on the Wind
Missing
Trouble in Paradise
Walker
Spartacus
Do the Right Thing

will all come at some point soon as well. hopefully DTRT will look better than Universal's disc. not sure what others I forgot.

The Naked City and Brute Force would also be likely candidates as well.

Scarlet Empress too.

given their rate of success with Universal I'm sure these will all be upgraded soon, and some new titles will be licensed from Focus

Lost in Translation (already has bluray but it's not great + could use some more special features)
Far From Heaven
Gosford Park
The Pianist
and many more, as we've mentioned in this thread

[flyonthewall2983]

There's some speculation on Blu-ray.com that Heat could be released by Criterion. Fox is about to release a disc in Europe, but there's no word on a US release yet. I highly doubt it, but that there isn't a US release yet has made me at least curious as to what will happen with it.

[FrauBlucher]

That would be one of those blockbuster titles for Criterion.

[flyonthewall2983]

Someone suggested there that it could be Criterion's first UHD/4K disc title. It would be a hell of a place to start, especially as how striking I heard the new transfer is.

[mfunk9786]

I think it's more likely that Criterion upgrades Filmstruck streaming to UHD - I don't see any reason for them to involve themselves in another disc format, particularly one with such a tepid response from consumers.

[ianungstad]

Arrow recently asked what Mann film fans would like to see them release. They just licensed Donnie Darko for the US from Fox; which is a pretty huge title. (Fox doesn't have UK rights) I personally thought they were teasing maybe a release of Crime Story from their Lakeshore Deal...but could be Heat.

Criterion would also be great. I just hope it doesn't go to Shout. I hate their menus and their lousy packaging. Also; no booklets.

[Ribs]

I think UHD has actually exceeded its expectations thus far, but I imagine it wasn't expected to do very great to begin with. As content fills in, Disney gets involved, and costs lower (both of which seem to be happening), I see no reason why the boutique labels wouldn't try and put their feet in the water.

I think the idea they'd start with Heat is a delusion, though - I think it's more fair to assume it'd be Shout, which at the least would hopefully be a slightly more jazzy version of this transfer than the apparently astonishingly adequate UK disc.

(That said - I could also imagine a situation where Criterion is the only label that *can* afford to do UHD)

[flyonthewall2983]

Heat seems too much of a prestige title to go to Shout/Scream. They did an okay job with Manhunter, but Mann wasn't as directly involved with that (not in the new special features, though I'm pretty sure he supervised it's transfer). I'm surprised we're even having this conversation because I thought Fox would be on top of releasing this in North America first, let alone not behind the releases in Europe. I like the idea of Arrow putting it out, but I think the Donnie Darko release could be more indicative of the fact that the new transfer originated in their hands.

[TMDaines]

I think it's more likely that Criterion upgrades Filmstruck streaming to UHD - I don't see any reason for them to involve themselves in another disc format, particularly one with such a tepid response from consumers.

Problem with UHD is there no logical upgrade route to it from HD. If you've got one of those great value 1080p projectors like the BenQ W1070 or W1110 or similar, you are looking at paying 8-10 times as much for an entry level 4K projector, which is completely out of the question for most. You kind of have to downgrade to a 4K TV to take advantage of it.

Add on lack of PC support for 4K and it's a non-starter. The completely lack of interest in 4K media on backchannels is kinda revealing.

[antnield]

Arrow just licensed Donnie Darko for the US from Fox; which is a pretty huge title.

Donnie Darko isn't a Fox licence.

[flyonthewall2983]

FWIW it appears now Fox is releasing Heat in May. I just got the UK disc yesterday. Watched it last night, looks and sounds great but not a whole lot of improvement to these eyes over the WB disc.