Criterion and Fox / MGM / Universal

[Forrest Taft]

Cronenberg mentioned it in an interview a few days ago. Knight is working on the second draft of the script, and Focus is interested, as is Cronenberg and Mortensen.

[flyonthewall2983]

Awesome. I really liked Eastern Promises and David's overall leap to the crime genre.

[Gary Gnu]

Cronenberg mentioned it in an interview a few days ago. Knight is working on the second draft of the script, and Focus is interested, as is Cronenberg and Mortensen.

You're more current than I am, certainly! (Everyone on this forum is.) Well, I look forward to the sequel.

[Forrest Taft]

Here's the source, by the way. Nothing definitive yet, but good to know they're still working on it.

[MoonlitKnight]

I wonder if Fox is ever going to jump on the MOD bandwagon (same with Paramount)? :-k

[Noiradelic]

To their credit, so far they've gone with Twilight Time instead -- granted not a large catalogue, but still. And actually released the Kazan box in the last year. Paramount -- ha! How about bringing Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby and Sunset Blvd back into print (on Blu of course)? I imagine if Paramount titles appear on MOD it'll probably be through another studio like Universal, or TCM. They just don't give a rat's ass about making their back catalogue available on physical media.

[Ashirg]

To be fair, Paramount licensed a bunch of titles to Olive Films.

[MoonlitKnight]

To their credit, so far they've gone with Twilight Time instead -- granted not a large catalogue, but still. And actually released the Kazan box in the last year. Paramount -- ha! How about bringing Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby and Sunset Blvd back into print (on Blu of course)? I imagine if Paramount titles appear on MOD it'll probably be through another studio like Universal, or TCM. They just don't give a rat's ass about making their back catalogue available on physical media.

Well, considering it's likely the only way I'll ever get to own titles such as Altman's "H.E.A.L.T.H.," Mazursky's "Willie and Phil," Peerce's "The Incident," Grosbard's "Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?," Pakula's "The Sterile Cuckoo," Parker's "Bugsy Malone," etc., I'll continue to hold out the dimmest of hope. 8-[

[Noiradelic]

The way they've handled (bungled) things, I'd never count on them releasing anything themselves, but there's always the possibility of licensing, including someone else conceivably handling MOD. In addition to Olive, CC is releasing Harold and Maude and The Conformist, so hopefully a juicy slate of Paramounts are in the pipeline.

[MoonlitKnight]

The way they've handled (bungled) things, I'd never count on them releasing anything themselves, but there's always the possibility of licensing, including someone else conceivably handling MOD. In addition to Olive, CC is releasing Harold and Maude and The Conformist, so hopefully a juicy slate of Paramounts are in the pipeline.

Yeah, I heard about a year ago that CC was planning on releasing Skolimowski's "Deep End" (another Paramount title) this year, which excited me... but obviously that didn't happen. Next year then? :-k

[captveg]

You know, looking at Criterion's continued relationships with both Universal / Focus and Polanski, I wonder if we could see The Pianist make the collection.

[The Narrator Returns]

You know, looking at Criterion's continued relationships with both Universal / Focus and Polanski, I wonder if we could see The Pianist make the collection.

Alas, The Pianist is also Studiocanal, so its chances may be slim.

[Jeff]

Alas, The Pianist is also Studiocanal, so its chances may be slim.

StudioCanal doesn't hold the U.S. rights, Focus does.

[onedimension]

Just read through this whole thread, and no one has mentioned 'Touch of Evil' as a CC candidate? A clone of the MoC release would be great for those who are region-locked- I'm just afraid it's going to be dumped on blu as a single-disc, feature-less release with a mediocre transfer..

[eerik]

There's a French release coming out in November from Universal. No details yet.

[Drucker]

It was also re-issued with a digital copy as part of the 100th anniversary collection.

I'd just save all the coins in your piggy bank and go region free asap! The MOC got me to do it and I've been so happy with it.

[zedz]

Just read through this whole thread, and no one has mentioned 'Touch of Evil' as a CC candidate? A clone of the MoC release would be great for those who are region-locked- I'm just afraid it's going to be dumped on blu as a single-disc, feature-less release with a mediocre transfer..

I'm sorry to say that I can't imagine a Criterion clone of the MoC release ever happening. It's just not Criterion's style to present the multiple aspect ratio option for multiple cuts of a film. Actually, I don't think there's any other release of any film anywhere that went as far as MoC did in that instance. So if you want all those different versions of the film all in one place, get the MoC while it's still in print.

[AisleSeat]

Martin Ritt's "No Down Payment" (1957) is finally available via Fox Cinema Archives.

This somewhat obscure, but highly-regarded film seems to have been lost for ages in one of filmdom's black holes. Exactly why and how that happened is puzzling. That it's seldom screened on TV is partly to blame, but again, why so rarely shown?

Might this be a Criterion-worthy title? Would they be interested? If so, what are the prospects of gaining license?

[knives]

I suppose it depends on Fox's archive politics, but the fact that they put it out there does not bode well for a Criterion disc. The only precedence for something like what you are asking is the Universal titles Shout! has released.

[CSM126]

Just read through this whole thread, and no one has mentioned 'Touch of Evil' as a CC candidate? A clone of the MoC release would be great for those who are region-locked- I'm just afraid it's going to be dumped on blu as a single-disc, feature-less release with a mediocre transfer..

I'm sorry to say that I can't imagine a Criterion clone of the MoC release ever happening. It's just not Criterion's style to present the multiple aspect ratio option for multiple cuts of a film. Actually, I don't think there's any other release of any film anywhere that went as far as MoC did in that instance.

So we're ignoring On the Waterfront and its multiple aspect ratio presentation, are we?

[neilist]

Just read through this whole thread, and no one has mentioned 'Touch of Evil' as a CC candidate? A clone of the MoC release would be great for those who are region-locked- I'm just afraid it's going to be dumped on blu as a single-disc, feature-less release with a mediocre transfer..

I'm sorry to say that I can't imagine a Criterion clone of the MoC release ever happening. It's just not Criterion's style to present the multiple aspect ratio option for multiple cuts of a film. Actually, I don't think there's any other release of any film anywhere that went as far as MoC did in that instance.

So we're ignoring On the Waterfront and its multiple aspect ratio presentation, are we?

That comment is dated as being made back in July 2012, so long before 'On The Waterfront' was announced as being released with multiple aspect ratio presentations.

[CSM126]

Well fuck me, I didn't realize this thread had been inactive so long.

[zedz]

Even so, there's still quite a leap from Criterion's simple binary option to MoC's 'multiple versions in multiple sizes' approach.

[onedimension]

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..

[knives]

Yes, in fact those DVDs are all universal.