Criterion and Warner Bros.

[cdnchris]

I'm taking a guess they've had some success with the titles they've licenced out so far. Maybe Badlands sold fairly well, better than they expected. And Warner did allow Shout to up their print run for Night Breed after the initial 5000 sold out so quickly, so I'm guessing Warner had no idea there was that much interest in the film and maybe see the advantage of a specialty label with a following releasing their films. I can only guess they get a cut of the profits, plus it sounds like the third parties (Twilight Time aside as the Heaven and Earth release makes obvious) are doing the restorations and work, so win-win?

[ryannichols7]

Any guesses on the next title? BEFORE trilogy? BLOW-UP? THE NEW WORLD?

my personal choice would be Dreams.

would bet on McCabe and Mrs. Miller being one of the first few, too.

[johnnysnatchclub7]

Both of those would of course be excellent.

[Cinephrenic]

Blow-Up please. Does Warner still have Visconti's The Damned?

[theflirtydozen]

Based on Day for Night being in that list of recent OOP WB titles, I'm assuming that Criterion has it in their contract that all licensed films must go out of print (does this seem accurate?).

But that OOP list would also not give any indication on the status of titles currently unreleased on DVD like Greed or Nothing Lasts Forever that seem like criterion-wish-list material.

[Minkin]

I might imagine upgrades /reissues of some of the current Criterion discs would be among their highest priority - thus Dead Ringers, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and My Private Idaho (or is this + Short Cuts no longer with WB?) will see blus.

I'd also probably expect Criterion to go after quite a few of their former laserdisc titles, in order to rescue the commentaries, etc. Going by the Wikipedia list, here are the WB titles released on that format:

Citizen Kane
King Kong
Swing Time
The Magnificent Ambersons
Blade Runner
The Asphalt Jungle
A Night at the Opera
Scaramouche
Show Boat (1936)
North by Northwest
Adam's Rib
Blowup
Singin' in the Rain
Forbidden Planet
The Wizard of Oz
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Casablanca
Lolita
Bad Day at Black Rock
Arsenic and Old Lace
Cat People
Crash

New Line:
The Player
Damage
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
Polyester
Menace II Society
Once Were Warriors
Seven
Shine
Pink Flamingos


--I'm sure I'm missing plenty
--The world doesn't need a millionth release of Casablanca/Wizard of Oz/Singin in the Rain/Blade Runner/etc - so I would never expect them.

Of that list, I'd most likely expect: Crash, Cat People, Show Boat, Magnificent Ambersons, Blowup... but who knows.

As for WB titles that I hope they get... uhh, where to even begin? King Vidor silents, Greed, Nothing Last Forever, The Hunger, the "banned" Looney Tunes cartoons (might as well give them to Criterion, as WB will never touch them), Doctor X, 7 Faces of Dr Lao, Royal Wedding, Invitation to the Dance, etc etc. This could go on all day. I'll be disappointed if Criterion didn't license out 500+ films.

EDIT
Fixed Jason and Argonauts (thanks Captveg) + added New Line films (thanks ordinaryperson)

[movielocke]

Re: looney tunes, wb legal would still have to sign off on them, so they're probably off the table.

[ellipsis7]

On this basis, I would hope to see BLOW-UP appearing on Criterion BR shortly... It's a pity that ZABRISKIE POINT does not seem to be being lined up for similar treatment, as it looked wonderful on the big screen last year, from a new DCP (4K?) rereleased theatrically by Hollywood Classics on license from Warner Bros. (outside the USA)...

[What A Disgrace]

Man, I'd love to see a Criterion of Scaramouche.

[palntsc]

I second that, and I'd love to see Criterion releases of Cat People and The Asphalt Jungle too...

[captveg]

Jason and the Argonauts is a Sony title, not WB

[ordinaryperson]

"The Player", "Damage", "Get Out Your Handkerchiefs", "Polyester", "Menace II Society", "Once Were Warriors", "Seven", "Shine", and "Pink Flamingos" were also released on Criterion laserdisc.

[Moe Dickstein]

I believe those are mostly NL titles.

Bad Day at Black Rock would be an ideal release. Great early CinemaScope film and they have an outstanding commentary by Sturges, the WB DVD has a different commentary that could hold over as well

[jwd5275]

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs is available from Kino.

[captveg]

WB/NL's Blu-ray release of Seven is also rather extensive in the supplements department, and their Blu-ray release of Menace II Society is also pretty decent.

[criterion10]

Does Warner still have Visconti's The Damned?

Yes -- not sure if it's in print or not though.

The Magnificent Ambersons
The Asphalt Jungle
Blowup
Cat People
The Player

These were all among the wave of OOP WB titles, of which Day for Night was one of them, so I'd assume we'll be seeing Criterion releases of these eventually.

[giovannii84]

Does Warner still have Visconti's The Damned?

Yes -- not sure if it's in print or not though.

The Magnificent Ambersons
The Asphalt Jungle
Blowup
Cat People
The Player

These were all among the wave of OOP WB titles, of which Day for Night was one of them, so I'd assume we'll be seeing Criterion releases of these eventually.

I hope we get 'The Asphalt Jungle'. Aside from it being a brilliant film, it's possibly the only opportunity they'll be for a Marilyn Monroe in the collection. I doubt Fox will license any of their films & the chance of criterion getting Some Like it Hot is slim too.

[flyonthewall2983]

(or is this + Short Cuts no longer with WB?)

I'm pretty sure that while they may have had the rights to it, WB has never released this on any home video format.

[Moe Dickstein]

Does Warner still have Visconti's The Damned?

Yes -- not sure if it's in print or not though.

The Magnificent Ambersons
The Asphalt Jungle
Blowup
Cat People
The Player

These were all among the wave of OOP WB titles, of which Day for Night was one of them, so I'd assume we'll be seeing Criterion releases of these eventually.

I hope we get 'The Asphalt Jungle'. Aside from it being a brilliant film, it's possibly the only opportunity they'll be for a Marilyn Monroe in the collection. I doubt Fox will license any of their films & the chance of criterion getting Some Like it Hot is slim too.

It's not impossible, it was a LD title

[Buttery Jeb]

You forgot Derek Jarmen's Edward II as one of the New Line titles; but I'm thinking that may end up at Criterion regardless once New Line/Fine Line's rights lapse (sort of like how Naked did).

Bodies, Rest & Motion was also a New Line title released on laserdisc by Criterion as well (as was Boogie Nights).

[britcom68]

I am not great at reading tea leaves, but if the big WB lets Criterion have the Kubrick Lolita, it seems an automatic odds-on-favorite that Barry Lyndon will be forthcoming too. *(if Barry Lyndon comes at all this year or early 2016, I will assume that New year's clue soldiers were representing Barry, right now I am not guessing about them anymore.)

If WB does allow Criterion to put out its own edition of Lolita, my hopes are high that if sales of the CC edition are good that WB will eventually relinquish Ken Russell's "Devils." I can understand WB's fear of releasing "Devils" stateside themselves, but Lolita has even greater name-recognition beyond the usual film-fans community and its tone and subject matter are still socially controversial here in the USA. So if WB wants to just relinquish Lolita because of those reasons, why not the Russell film too? Criterion would not be shy to address the tone and subject material via special features, in fact, I see a likely packed Criterion edition of Lolita. WB has had years of opportunity to do the same thing for its own releases of Lolita and chose to dump it barebones, so one would think they would not mind just having Criterion take a controversial ones off their hands. Here's hoping!

[Drucker]

I am not great at reading tea leaves

The odds of a Warner Kubrick going to Criterion are slim to none. They just reissued the boxset again.

[MoonlitKnight]

Any guesses on the next title? BEFORE trilogy?

The Jesse and Céline Trilogy sounds a little cleaner to my ears, but that's probably just me.

Speaking of Linklater, wasn't "SubUrbia" also part of this deal?

[flyonthewall2983]

The odds of a Warner Kubrick going to Criterion are slim to none. They just reissued the boxset again.

Maybe someday they'll get tired of putting out Kubrick boxsets and give in?

[Ashirg]

Two films announced for July are licensed from Warner - The In-Laws and The New World.