Criterion and StudioCanal

[Ashirg]

Does Studio Canal has an address where to send all hate mail?

[Saturnome]

I may be blind, but is there a StudioCanal Criterion list ? This topic show some incomplete lists, but nothing definitive.

[domino harvey]

In three years, everything will be out of print except Border Radio

[knives]

Canal's going to be taking the rest of their catalog soon enough.

Scary thought but true enough... Well least Criterion will probably be giving heads up on this, which is great. One title definitely not to miss out is Victor Erice's Spirit of the Beehive, if you haven't snatched it already don't hesitate to if you get the chance.

Spirit's not a Canal. Here, once again, is the complete list.

[Svevan]

Note: that list does not include EAH titles, though I think Canal's got all those back by now.

There's really not much left for them to take - a few Bunuels, Becker's Touchez, two Melvilles, and some others. The question is whether Criterion will announce the OOPing of these titles before they go, and offer similar discounts. They didn't give any warning on Third Man, Nights of Cabiria, or (I think) Contempt. The Bunuels are cornerstones of their collection, so let's hope they give us a heads up. I regret missing out on Nights of Cabiria: lovely film, great disc, I rented it locally cause it said "Criterion" on it. Was one of my first Fellini's, if not THE first.

[HistoryProf]

holy crap....no one ever said we could lose HOPSCOTCH?!?!??!??! The horror!!

[domino harvey]

[kaujot]

=D>

[cdnchris]

Also note that that list doesn't include films Criterion licenced from another party, like Kind Hearts and Coronets, which is a Studio Canal title I believe, but was licenced from Anchor Bay. Same with The Man Who Fell to Earth and a few others from other distributors/studios. I'm assuming those ones have different deals and may not be in immediate danger, but The Third Man was technically licenced from Rialto and Ran from Wellspring.

[Tom Hagen]

holy crap....no one ever said we could lose HOPSCOTCH?!?!??!??! The horror!!

Son, I've been cracking wise about Hopscotch since day 1 of the elevated OOP alerts.

[aox]

holy crap....no one ever said we could lose HOPSCOTCH?!?!??!??! The horror!!

Son, I've been cracking wise about Hopscotch since day 1 of the elevated OOP alerts.

He doesn't know his history.

[Peacock]

Also that list seems to be missing Breathless?

[scotty2]

I don't see Army of Shadows on there either.

[knives]

Breathless has nothing to do with Canal, at least statewise. The Box says Pretty pictures, Genius (in a wellspring move I assume), INA, Vauban, and Les films Georges.

[aox]

Breathless has nothing to do with Canal, at least statewise. The Box says Pretty pictures, Genius (in a wellspring move I assume), INA, Vauban, and Les films Georges.

that's interesting. Then I guess there is still hope Criterion takes the time for a Blu Ray release of the film.

[perkizitore]

Breathless on blu-ray is surely forthcoming, if the new 35mm print tour is any indication. It would be quite interesting to see how it compares with the Studio Canal disc.

[Cinephrenic]

They said on Facebook, next year (2011) a while back for Breathless.

[tojoed]

Breathless has nothing to do with Canal, at least statewise. The Box says Pretty pictures, Genius (in a wellspring move I assume), INA, Vauban, and Les films Georges.

I'm not sure how it affects the States, but the copyright is definitely owned by Studio Canal Image.

[captveg]

Also note that that list doesn't include films Criterion licenced from another party, like Kind Hearts and Coronets, which is a Studio Canal title I believe, but was licenced from Anchor Bay. Same with The Man Who Fell to Earth and a few others from other distributors/studios. I'm assuming those ones have different deals and may not be in immediate danger, but The Third Man was technically licenced from Rialto and Ran from Wellspring.

I'd imagine that when Criterion's agreement with a prior owner (e.g. Anchor Bay) ends the new rights holder (Studio Canal) will not renew. So, yeah, I'd say those will eventually be OOP.

[Noiradelic]

Here, once again, is the complete list.

This is a list of Rialto Criterion titles that might be Studio Canal, posted by cdnchris. Can anyone rule these in or out as Canals?

Criterion didn't give warnings about any Canal titles going OOP prior to the last wave, so I wouldn't count on them doing it again for just 1 or 2 titles at a time. On the other hand, they must've unloaded a lot more of the more-obscure films than they would've without the announcement, so hopefully that'll be an incentive for them to keep doing it going forward.

[tojoed]

"Masculin/Feminin" doesn't appear to be Canal. Like "Vivre sa Vie" it is owned by a company called Argos Films.

[kaujot]

They own the two Marker films as well.

[PillowRock]

Criterion didn't give warnings about any Canal titles going OOP prior to the last wave, so I wouldn't count on them doing it again for just 1 or 2 titles at a time.

I could be all all wet on this, but my thinking was that driving force behind the difference in Criterion's behavior was not the number of titles involved.

Rather, I figured that it was a matter of their hopes / expectations of being able to work with Studio Canal on other licenses and / or to re-license the movies that were going OOP. As long as they thought that they could work with SC, Criterion maintained a "play nice" approach so as to not unnecessarily tick them off. However, now that it looks like Canal is applying a blanket policy of not licensing anything to anyone in R1 except Lionsgate, Criterion has no reason (relative to Studio Canal) not to do wahtever maximizes their sales; and that is clearly to give warnings about when those titles are about to go OOP.

[dad1153]

^^^ I agree that, by warning us several months ahead of time about their soon-to-be OOP titles, Criterion effectively switched into a 'Screw You Studio Canal, we're making as much money as we can' posture that will impact Lionsgate's decision-making about what titles get re-released in R1 DVD/Blu-ray. If the Lionsgate suits know that Criterion just sold a boatload (i.e. flooded the market of potential buyers with already-acquired product) of titles that they don't think will sell significantly better under their label then the Criterion versions floating around will remain the 'go to' versions collectors gravitate towards. But, since Criterion barely had a few months of exclusivity for its "Third Man" Blu-ray re-issue, it makes sense for Lionsgate to bring this title over to the States and clean house along with 'evergreen' biggies ("Contempt," "Ran," etc.) whose mere existence in R1 BD compensates for their now-absent Criterion DVD counterparts.

[Svevan]

Speaking of Blu, Army of Shadows doesn't qualify as a biggie, but I desperately want Criterion to do a Blu-ray edition; I doubt that Studio Canal would put this at the top of their priorities list for Blu, considering all the other big titles they're obtaining.

So what's the final word on those Rialtos, then? Is Army of Shadows among the doomed?