In terms of announcement news today, here’s something that’s really exciting: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just announced the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray release of Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992) on 1/13/25! The film is a big favorite of mine, and it stars Val Kilmer, Graham Greene, and Sam Shepard, all sadly no longer with us. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

The disc will include Dolby Vision HDR, with the 4K restoration fully approved by cinematographer Roger Deakins. You’ll also get English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio as well as the previous 2.0 mix in DTS-HD MA. Extras will include the recently-recorded audio commentary with screenwriter John Fusco that was featured on the 2024 Blu-ray release (reviewed here), as well as the film’s theatrical trailer.

Also today, Paramount will release Jonathan Mostow’s Breakdown (1997) in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on 12/30. This is the same disc that came out in the Paramount Scares: Volume 2 4K box set last year.

Universal will release Ronan Day-Lewis’ Anemone (2025) on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 12/2.

Powerhouse Films has begun announcing their Indicator Films physical media slate for January 2026, which will include Sam Wood’s Ivy (1947), Irving Reis’ All My Sons (1948), and William Castle’s Undertow (1949) on Blu-ray in the UK on 1/26/26, as well as the Cliff in Color! The Techicolor Musicals of Cliff Richard (1961-64) box set on Blu-ray in the US on 1/27/26, which will include Sidney J. Furie’s The Young Ones (1961) and Wonderful Life (1964), as well as Peter Yates’ Summer Holiday (1963).

And for 4K fans, Indicator will release Paolo Cavara’s Plot of Fear (1976) on 4K UHD and Blu-ray (separately) on 11/17.

And Kino Lorber Studio Classics has now set their live action Pink Panther releases—The Pink Panther (1963), A Shot in the Dark (1964), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) for separate 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray release on 12/16.

Also today, I wanted to take a moment to comment on this news surrounding the potential sale of Warner Bros. We know that Paramount/Skydance has expressed interest in purchasing WB, and reports are that WB rejected their original purchase offer as being too low. Now there are reports in the trades that WB is officially entertaining “multiple” purchase offers from different parties that reportedly include Apple, Comcast, and Netflix in addition to Paramount/Skydance. (You can read more here, here, and here.)

Here’s my feeling on this: The fact that multiple offers are being entertained makes it perfectly clear that CEO David Zazlav absolutely does intend to sell the studio to someone. And I strongly suspect that Paramount/Skydance is the whale they’re hoping to land, and they’re using this “entertaining multiple offers” strategy to get them to increase their purchase bid. As of now, Zazlav and other WB execs maintain that they are moving forward with a plan to split Warner Bros. from Discovery. But if I were a betting man, I would bet that WB will be sold, and the overwhelming favorite to be the buyer is Paramount/Skydance.

How that impacts Warner Bros., and particularly its physical media operations, remains to be seen. There could be massive layoffs. Almost certainly there will be massive disruption to every aspect of the studio’s operations. On the other hand, Paramount could choose to use Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s existing staff, production, and distribution infrastructure (via SDS) to release their own physical media product. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We certainly live in interesting times here on the cusp of 2026. And some days, I wish we didn’t.

Finally today, here’s something lighter and more upbeat: A photography YouTuber named Mathieu Stern just posted a new video—jointly produced with the Atlas Lens Co—detailing the story of his discovery, this past summer in a French auction site, of one of the first CinemaScope dual-focus anamorphic lens adaptors produced by Bausch + Lomb for the 20th Century Fox camera department, which may have been used in the filming of Disney’s production of Richard Fleischer’s 20,000 League Under the Sea (1954). Just a few months after the film was released, Bausch + Lomb produced new anamorphic lenses that no longer required dual focus. But those original adaptors are very rare, so discovering one like this is a rarity. Atlas Lens Co purchased it and allowed Stern to test it and shoot stills and video with it, and the result is breathtaking. The video is about 14 minutes long, but I think you’ll agree it’s worth every minute of your time. So here it is…

All right, we’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for a couple of the titles mentioned above and more, with Amazon pre-order links if available…

That’s all for today! Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)