All right, some release news today…
Bits readers are reporting that Amazon has just pulled the Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas from pre-order availability. They had been taking Blu-ray and DVD pre-orders for a month or so with an expected release date of 2/5. However, I should note that the studio has never officially announced the title or its street date, so technically this isn’t Warner pulling the release – it’s Amazon that jumped the gun by listing a 2/5 street date. I’m sure that 2/5 was at one point the tentative release date, but it’s clear that the studio simply hasn’t finalized its release plan yet or we’d already have seen an announcement. We’ve asked the studio what’s going on with the title and will let you know when we hear back. Unofficially, we’re hearing that the studio may have plans to return the film to theaters for a brief time. In any case, we expect WHV to make its official announcement of the title sometime in the next few weeks.
Speaking of Warner Home Video, they’re going to start releasing individual seasons of Friends on Blu-ray on 4/30, starting with the first two. Season One and Season Two each carry an SRP of $25.98.
Also, Warner and the BBC have set Alice Through the Looking Glass (1973) and Alice in Wonderland (1986) for DVD release on 3/12, presumably taking advantage of the promotional oomph of Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful which hits theatres on 3/8.
Sony has set A Dark Truth for DVD only release on 3/5, followed by The First Time and Mob Doctor: The Complete First Season on 3/12 and Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People on 3/19.
Showtime and Paramount have set The Borgias: The Second Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/26. The set will include a pair of featurettes, as well as promotional materials for a number of other Showtime series.
And Disney has set Perception: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 5/21.
Finally, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and our friends over at the Home Theater Forum are allowing you to vote on which deep catalog classic films you’d like to see delivered to Blu-ray in the months ahead. Click on the links to weigh in. Titles already expected from Fox on Blu-ray include Laura on 3/2, Panic in the Streets on 3/26, Hello, Dolly! on 4/2 and Viva Zapata! on 5/7.
Stay tuned!
- Bill Hunt