My Two Cents
Monday, 01 May 2023 19:51

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves & 65 officially announced, plus Shout/Scream’s July slate, The Pope’s Exorcist, John Wick: Chapter 4 & more

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We’ve got quite a lot of ground to cover today to being the new week here at The Bits—there’s lots of news and announcements to report!

First though, just the briefest of public service announcements: If any of you are active on Twitter and Facebook and you’re not following our The Digital Bits pages (@thedigitalbits on Twitter and @thedigitalbitscom on Facebook), please consider doing so. It really helps us to get the word out about upcoming titles and other industry happenings. I’d also appreciate it if you’d consider following me personally on Twitter (@BillHuntBits). That’s often the first place I share breaking news and insights from our industry sources, before I have time to write it up in a Bits news post here on the site. Plus, I’m working on a series of science fiction novels that I plan to launch later this year, and I’ll be sharing those details on Twitter eventually too. So thanks in advance for your consideration!

We have three new disc reviews to share with you today...

First, Stuart has taken a look at George Sherman’s Border River (1954) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart has also offered his take on Keith Maitland’s Dear Mr. Brody (2021) on DVD from Greenwich Entertainment via Kino Lorber.

And finally, Stephen has done a deep dive into Arrow Video’s Twisting the Knife: Four Films by Claude Chabrol on Blu-ray, which features The Swindle (1997), The Color of Lies (1999), Nightcap (2000), and The Flower of Evil (2003).

More reviews are on the way, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them. [Read on here...]

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Now then, the first big piece of announcement news today is that Paramount has officially set John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook on 5/30. The Digital release is expected tomorrow on 5/2. Look for both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 high dynamic range on the 4K SKU, along with Dolby Atmos audio. Extras on all versions will include deleted and extended scenes, a Gag Reel, and 6 behind-the-scenes featurettes (From Dice to Dragons: Honoring the Lore, Rogues’ Gallery: The Heroes of Dungeons & Dragons, Fantastic Foes, The Bestiary, Forging the Forgotten Realms, and Broadswords, Battle-axes & Badass Brawls). You can see the final cover artwork at left and also below.

Not to be outdone, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ sci-fi thriller 65 for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 5/30 as well, with the Digital release also expected to drop tomorrow on 5/2. Look for Dolby Atmos audio on the 4K UHD and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray. We expect the 4K to have both Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range. Extras should include deleted and extended scenes, 3 featurettes (Creating the World of 65, Primordial Planet, and Final Showdown: Concepts to Screen), and more. You can see the cover art below.

While we’re talking Sony, the studio has just set Julius Avery’s The Pope’s Exorcist (2023), staring Russell Crowe, for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/13.

On the 4K catalog front, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has confirmed that they’re working on an new Ultra HD release of Sidney Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974). That’s listed as coming soon.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment hasn’t officially announced this title yet, but they’ve acknowledged that it’s coming, and we first revealed that it was on the way to 4K last year here at The Bits. That title is, of course, National Lampoon’s Vacation. Well, now it’s actually been listed for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk with a street date of 6/26 in both regular and Ultimate Collector’s Edition UHD versions. Our sources indicate that the US street date will be 7/4. And you can see the cover artwork here (with the Amazon UK pre-order links)...

National Lampoon’s Vacation (4K Ultra HD)   National Lampoon’s Vacation (4K Ultra HD)

We’ll post the US details as soon as the title is officially announced.

Also on the 4K catalog front, our friends at Shout! Factory and Scream have begun to unveil their July release slate, which will include Upgrade (2018) in 4K UHD on 7/4, The Burning (1981) in 4K UHD on 7/11, and Bride of Chucky (1998), Seed of Chucky (2004), Curse of Chucky (2013), and Cult of Chucky (2017) all on 4K UHD on 7/25. Also coming on Blu-ray only on 7/25 is Team America: World Police (Uncensored and Unrated), and Shout! will release Superstore: The Complete Series on DVD only too that same day.

We’ve also learned that Universal has tentatively slated Fast X (which arrives in theaters on 5/19) and a new Fast and Furious 10 Movie Collection on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 8/1. But that’s subject to change pending the studio’s eventual announcement.

And on the subject of new release titles, Amazon is now confirming the anticipated 6/13 street date for John Wick: Chapter 4 on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate. You can see the cover art below.

Our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits has been updated with all of these titles and details accordingly.

Meanwhile, Vinegar Syndrome is releasing Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible & Irreversible: Straight Cut on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/27. In addition to both cuts of the film, extras will include the new 42-minute The Irreversible Odyssey retrospective documentary (featuring interviews with Gaspar Noé, Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and others), the Time Destroys All Things and SFX featurettes, two music videos (by Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and directed by Noé), original trailers, and a restoration trailer.

And Film Movement will release Shohei Imamura’s final film, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001) on Blu-ray for the first time in North America on 5/23. Newly-remastered, the release will include a video essay by film historian Tom Vick and a 16-page book with a new essay by film historian Hwang Kyunmin.

We have one other cool piece of information for you today per Jeff Goldsmith of the excellent The Q&A podcast: Star Wars: Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has announced that Lucasfilm will be launching a new website soon with all of the scripts for the series and tons of concept art as well. You can see the original post on Twitter here. Very cool news indeed—we’ll post a link as soon as it’s available.

We’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for a bunch of the titles mentioned above and more, with Amazon.com pre-order links if available...

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (4K Ultra HD) 65 (4K Ultra HD) John Wick: Chapter 4 (4K Ultra HD)

The Pope's Exorcist (Blu-ray Disc) Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (Blu-ray Disc) King Solomon's Mines (Blu-ray Disc)

The Boy with Green Hair (Blu-ray Disc) The Courtship of Eddie's Father (Blu-ray Disc) Queen Christina (Blu-ray Disc)

Back tomorrow with more. Stay tuned!

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

 

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