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Monday, 19 January 2015 13:34

The X-Files may return to TV, plus Exodus, Lady from Shanghai, Birdman, Charlie: 10th, The Saint & more!

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All right, it’s a slow day with the MLK holiday here in the States, but we do have some good stuff for you today.

Actually, today big news isn’t specifically Blu-ray-related, but it may have a strong bearing on a future Blu-ray release. Deadline Hollywood revealed over the weekend something we’ve suspected for many months now, which is that Fox is currently in negotiations to bring The X-Files back to TV, with creator Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson all apparently involved. It now seems likely that a Blu-ray release of the recently HD remastered series is waiting on these developments.  [Read on here…]

Meanwhile, we don’t have a street date yet but it appears that we do have actual temp cover artwork for the forthcoming Blu-ray release of Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings. The art indicates that the deluxe edition Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD are due to hit stores in Spring 2015. See the cover art below.

In announcement news, it appears that Mill Creek Entertainment has gotten the rights to release Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai on Blu-ray on 3/17. No word yet if this is the same master that TCM released online as part of their TCM Vault Collection, but we would guess it is. You can see the cover artwork below.

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Amazon is now taking pre-orders for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) on Blu-ray and DVD with a street date of 2/17. This will be a Fox release.

Warner Home Video has set a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 10th Anniversary Edition for release on Blu-ray on 3/3 (SRP $24.98). It appears that the set will include a collector’s photobook and a letter from Tim Burton.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 10th Anniversary Edition

Based on Amazon listings, it appears that Shout! Factory is getting ready to re-release The Saint: The Complete Series on DVD on 4/21. This is the original Roger Moore TV series that A&E first released on DVD over a decade ago. This also is an ITV series, like all the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation titles that A&E used to have and which Shout! is now beginning to release on DVD. I’m just going to go ahead and call it right now: I’m betting that Shout! Factory is going to be re-releasing Space: 1999 – Season One on Blu-ray this year and will also release Season Two on the format when it’s finally available in HD closer to the holidays. We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve confirmed this.

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Finally today, Matthew Grice – who as we mentioned last week started the Kickstarter to save re-record John Barry’s Moonraker score – now reports on Facebook that the effort has reached its goal: “The target for the new Moonraker recording has reached over £22,000. I like thousands of others are overwhelmed with how devoted fans are and may, just may make EON realize how much demand there is for the unreleased sound of Bond and makes me hopeful that we can get a substantial amount of signatures for the petition.” Good news indeed! Thanks again to Bits reader Tim H. for the link!

And here’s a look at the titles we’ve mentioned above, along with all the recently announced Criterion Blu-ray titles for April. Click on the covers to pre-order them from Amazon...

Birdman (Blu-ray Disc)    Exodus: Gods and Kings (Blu-ray Disc)    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 10th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray Disc)

The Lady from Shanghai (Blu-ray Disc)    The River (Criterion Blu-ray Disc)    The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Criterion Blu-ray Disc)

Odd Man Out (Criterion Blu-ray Disc)    Sullivan's Travels (Criterion Blu-ray Disc)    Le Silence de la Mer (Criterion Blu-ray Disc)

Back tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Bill Hunt