'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.2

[psufootball07]

Um, look at last year, and it is pretty well known they have done this for December.

[James]

Um, look at last year, and it is pretty well known they have done this for December.

Ummm, oh really? Ummm, okay. Umm, sorry for umm, wasting your, umm, precious, ummm, time.

[Gregory]

Umm, Kalthoum

[fdm]

I think it got lost in this thread a page or two back but there was a seemingly quite recent Mulvaney response I copied over here indicating that Gimme Shelter blu-ray was going to appear this year. Since that only leaves December, suspect that will be one of the releases.

[Edit: Or, on second thought, maybe it will get pushed for Che... or, on third thought, maybe they'll chicken out again and just give us DVDs.]

[P.S. Whatever happened to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence?]

[Jeff]

IFC chatter moved to IFC thread.

[ShellOilJunior]

Forgive me if I'm Captain Obvious but Che is a go for December.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3354#comments

[Harmonov]

I posted a comment on Criterion's Facebook page about Barfly joining the Collection (since it's OOP and there has been some speculation about it already. Here was the reply:

"Hmm.... interesting idea..."

I'll take that as a soft yes...

[movielocke]

december predictions:
Che
Stagecoach
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Gimme Shelter Bluray
the 25 disc kurosawa box set repackaging of all their existing releases (and no new releases). (might as well offer something disappointing)

easiest predictions ever, I'm going to get two and probably three right for sure. :-p

I am glad to hear the Everlasting moments news, it's one of my top films this year. It'd be grand if Criterion could work with WB to get the rights to Emigrants and New Land and release them as a set ala Yojimbo/Sanjuro.

[sidehacker]

That sounds about right to me, though I still don't believe the 25 disc Kurosawa boxset, even if it has been confirmed. I don't see Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrencecoming out. Even though it's not a "christmas movie" per se, they probably would have wanted to release a month in advance a la A Christmas Tale, but maybe I'm wrong. I couldn't care less anyway, but I am looking forward to see what they add to Stagecoach assuming they do add something.

[aox]

december predictions:
Che
Stagecoach

I want to say these two will be blu..or at least Che, since it was filmed with the red camera and the HD transfer already exists and has been released outside the US. Supposed to look pretty good too.

My only hope besides this is that the Road Show edition is released with the maps and intermission.

[HelenLawson]

december predictions:
I am glad to hear the Everlasting moments news, it's one of my top films this year. It'd be grand if Criterion could work with WB to get the rights to Emigrants and New Land and release them as a set ala Yojimbo/Sanjuro.

I asked Mulvaney about Emigrants/New Land a couple of weeks ago and this was the response I got:

...we'd very much like to work with Jan Troell on these two films but have no firm plans at this time.

[StevenJ0001]

december predictions:
I am glad to hear the Everlasting moments news, it's one of my top films this year. It'd be grand if Criterion could work with WB to get the rights to Emigrants and New Land and release them as a set ala Yojimbo/Sanjuro.

I asked Mulvaney about Emigrants/New Land a couple of weeks ago and this was the response I got:

...we'd very much like to work with Jan Troell on these two films but have no firm plans at this time.

Mmmm, that's actually a little heartening! It's a relatively specific response and certainly doesn't imply they have no plans... just no firm plans.

[-o<

[tavernier]

They wouldn't need to do much with Troell on these films--just port over the extras on the excellent (but unsubbed) Swedish release and you have a killer 3-disc set.

[captveg]

Any thoughts, or a pointer to where this has been discussed?

Well, here would be my guesses as far as likelihood of some previously released DVDs getting the BD upgrade:

Confirmed

Gimme Shelter
Walkabout

Inevitable

Seven Samurai

Highly Probable

Au Revoir Les Enfants (amazon.com poll)
Down by Law (amazon.com poll)
Kwaidan (amazon.com poll)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (amazon.com poll)

Possible

Amarcord (recent remaster)
Andrei Rublev (remaster in the works)
Bicycle Thieves
Black Narcissus (BD released in UK)
Brazil (recent remaster; Universal might not re-license for BD)
Breathless
Diabolique (remaster in the works)
High and Low (recent remaster)
Jules and Jim
The Lady Vanishes (recent remaster)
The Naked Kiss (remaster in the works)
Rashomon (new restoration; some stated interest in revisiting)
The Red Shoes (BD released in UK)
Sanjuro (recent remaster)
Shock Corridor (remaster in the works)
Yojimbo (recent remaster)

Perhaps

Army of Shadows
Beauty and the Beast (2 DVD releases; master notably older, however)
Black Orpheus (Oscar winner)
Charade (2 DVD releases; master notably older, however)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (recent remaster, but supposedly a low seller)
Days of Heaven (Paramount might not re-license for BD)
Dazed and Confused (Universal HD-DVD; might not re-license for BD)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal HD-DVD; might not re-license for BD)
Hamlet (Oscar winner)
The Last Temptation of Christ (Scorsese well represented on Blu; Universal might not re-license for BD)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Disney might not re-license for BD)
M (2 DVD releases; master notably older, however)
Nights of Cabiria (Oscar winner)
The Royal Tenenbaums (Disney might not re-license for BD)
Rushmore (Disney might not re-license for BD)
Spartacus (Universal HD-DVD; might not re-license for BD)
The 39 Steps (BD release in UK)
The Tin Drum (Oscar winner)
Traffic (Universal HD-DVD; might not re-license for BD)
Vagabond (recent remaster, but supposedly a low seller)

Outside Chance (mostly due to being more well-known by the general public)

L'avventura
Contempt (definite if rights get straightened out)
Cries and Whispers
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
8½
Fanny & Alexander
Grand Illusion
Hearts & Minds
The Hidden Fortress
The Ice Storm
In the Mood for Love
M. Hulot's Holiday
Mon oncle
My Life as a Dog
Ran (definite if rights get straightened out)
The Rules of the Game
Le samouraï
Short Cuts
Solaris
Throne of Blood
Tokyo Story
The Vanishing
Wild Strawberries

Of course, before they announced it I would not have expected Pierrot le fou, so this is a totally arbitrary list. They might decide to go with, say, a film like Onibaba, Pickpocket, or Elevator to the Gallows. I also think anything that has been released on DVD only since the first wave of BD titles (Nov '08) is essentially not coming, until they break precedent and show that they'd release such a title. That means this is limited to the non-OOP titles up through Spine #449 (Missing).

[ianungstad]

I recently talked to one of the trustees at the Caidin Trust who confirmed that the library of titles from the trust including Othello, I Married A Witch, To be Or Not to Be, History is Made at Night has been licensed to Criterion in addition to Stagecoach. I didn't get any response from Mulvaney from email but I tried the facebook route tonight and got this reply to my question of:

Q:Great news on Stagecoach and the IFC deal! Any chance some of the other films from the Caidin Trust like To Be or Not to Be or I Married a Witch?
A: Magic eight ball says "Outlook good" -- You sure know your movie trusts and estates!

So there's some quasi confirmation of the titles. From my investigations, it seems that the Castle Hill deal is limited to the titles from Caidin Trust, so no Marx Brothers, Elia Kazan, etc. Apparently Caidin is similar to the Chaplins at MK2, where they own the rights to the film but have let other companies handle the distribution rights in exchange for a fee.

Also another interesting Facebook response from Mulvaney. Someone asked about Letter From an Unknown Woman, which is a Lionsgate title. Mulvaney's response was:

All I can say is that we want to do it, and we may be able to, but there are still issues to sort out. Sorry if we've been unresponsive, but we get pretty swamped sometimes, and as a rule we've generally tried not to fuel speculation oon upcoming or potential titles until they are scheduled...

Looks like the last of the major studios may be about to cave in and that a Lions Gate deal is finally in the works.

[Murdoch]

Great detective work!

I sincerely hope we see I Married a Witch within the next year, and that the Ophuls is smoothed out - and doesn't get the same packaging treatment as the previous releases.

[Tribe]

I recently talked to one of the trustees at the Caidin Trust who confirmed that the library of titles from the trust including Othello, I Married A Witch, To be Or Not to Be, History is Made at Night has been licensed to Criterion in addition to Stagecoach.

Ian....you are badass!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Which Othello does the Caidan Trust own? The Orson Welles version? If so, I'd forgive every bad thing I've said about Criterion recently. I can finally put my old laserdisc to rest.

[ianungstad]

Great detective work!

I sincerely hope we see I Married a Witch within the next year, and that the Ophuls is smoothed out - and doesn't get the same packaging treatment as the previous releases.

I'm assuming it's a Lionsgate deal from Mulvaney's reply. It's quite possible that it might be related to Paramount end of things... Have no idea what the details are with Republic Pictures. Potentially interesting at any rate.

[ianungstad]

Which Othello does the Caidan Trust own? The Orson Welles version? If so, I'd forgive every bad thing I've said about Criterion recently. I can finally put my old laserdisc to rest.

Yeah, it's the Orson Welles title.

[Cosmo Vitelli]

Which Othello does the Caidan Trust own? The Orson Welles version? If so, I'd forgive every bad thing I've said about Criterion recently. I can finally put my old laserdisc to rest.

Yeah, it's the Orson Welles title.

Awesome. Hope it's an early 2010 release. [-o<

[ianungstad]

Another Mulvaney facebook response that might be of some interest:

Ben Jackson: So happy to hear that "Summer Hours" will be joining the Collection next year! I'd like to know if Criterion will be handling the transfers of the IFC films or if they will just be lending their brand name?

We're handling the masters, working closely with the filmmakers as we always do, but in certain cases (i.e., CHE) the filmmaker already had meticulous control before we ever got involved. In other cases, we're doing significant reworking. It all depends on whether the quality of the existing masters meets our specs technically and matches the filmmaker's vision aesthetically. We'll do whatever it takes to make sure these movies look great (and right).

[Jeff]

Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, I can confirm that I have also been told more or less what Ian heard from a couple of sources that I trust since my speculation after the newsletter clue. Foreign Correspondent and The Long Voyage Home should also be part of the deal, along with the previously mentioned History is Made at Night, I Married a Witch, To Be or Not to Be, and Stagecoach. I hadn't heard about Othello being included, and I'm a little surprised, but it's great news.

Stanley Caidin was a private collector who acquired the rights to Walter Wanger's films after Wanger's death, and acquired a few other films later. He was more known for his poster collection. Castle Hill distributes the films of the Caidin trust on the estate's behalf. While Castle Hill also represents the Kazan estate (Baby Doll, A Face in the Crowd, America America) and a bunch of other libraries, there is no reason at this point to assume that Criterion has licensed titles outside of the Caidin group. Of course they also previously licensed the Cassavetes films from Castle Hill (which CH manages on Rowlands' behalf) in the past, so I suppose future acquisitions aren't out of the question.

Warner owned the rights to I Married a Witch and History is Made at Night for at least the last 20 years, but they never made it to DVD. I'm thrilled that Criterion is rectifying that!

[ianungstad]

^

I might have jumped the gun on Othello. I spent a few days googling Caidin Trust trying to find a contact (boy are they discreet. Took me awhile to find an email for Peter Langs). I just remember Othello being one of the Caidin titles. It might not be. I never asked about the Welles specifically but listed it in my post because I remember it being one of the titles included in the Caidin library. All Peter Langs told me was that the Caidin library is in Cri's hands now.

[Jeff]

Also another interesting Facebook response from Mulvaney. Someone asked about Letter From an Unknown Woman, which is a Lionsgate title. Mulvaney's response was:

All I can say is that we want to do it, and we may be able to, but there are still issues to sort out.

I think that may actually be Peter Becker or Jon Turrell responding on FB. Letter From an Unknown Woman is doubly interesting, but it's not really a Lionsgate title. It's a Paramount property which is believed to be licensed to Lionsgate along with the rest of the Republic library. Paramount was about to release it themselves until they decided to license the library out. They canceled it at the last minute with street date, cover art, and price ready to go. I wonder if Lionsgate might be a little overwhelmed with the massive Republic library (which they've barely begun to exploit), and Paramount, LG, and Criterion might be working on a deal for Criterion to distribute a few of the titles. This, of course, could pave the way for the greatest news of all: a Criterion release of Johnny Guitar.