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Monday, 30 August 2021 15:47

Middle-Earth UCE revealed (but not yet announced), plus more Neon Genesis Evangelion SKUs, a remastered Vanilla Sky & more

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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray Disc)

All right, we’ve got a bit of breaking news to cover today, so let’s get right to it...

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is close to announcing their long-awaited Middle-Earth 31-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition box set, which will include the Theatrical and Extended versions of all six Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films on both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray (including the remastered Lord of the Rings films on Blu-ray) along with a Blu-ray bonus disc of new content that (per our sources) is expected to include the 26-minute presentation reel shown at Cannes in 2001, and the Alamo Drafthouse cast reunion in 3 parts. In total, we expect this to be about 90 minutes of new content in all. (Note that the existing audio commentaries will also carry over on the actual film discs.) You’ll also get a 64-page book of costume sketches, photography, and production notes, plus 7 “travel poster” artwork cards.

Please be advised that The Appendices will not be included in this new set (that was confirmed when WB first revealed the set last year) so don’t start selling your existing Blu-ray and 4K sets in anticipation of buying the new one assuming that everything will be included in it.

Warner’s official announcement should come at any time, but we’ve got a sneak peek at what the set looks like in the meantime from a new listing on the Wow HD UK webstore, which currently shows a street date of October 26 (click here for that, and you can see the packaging below)... [Read on here...]

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Here’s the front and back of the packaging... [Editor’s Note: The set is now available for pre-order on Amazon by clicking on the images.]

Middle-Earth 31-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (4K UHD and Blu-ray box set)

Middle-Earth 31-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (4K UHD and Blu-ray box set)

And here’s the disc breakdown (by our calculation)...

Middle-Earth 31-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (4K UHD and Blu-ray box set) - Disc Breakdown

Again, this is not yet officially announced, but we expect the official announcement at any time. So there you go.

Also today, GKids has finally revealed their more affordable Neon Genesis Evangelion: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray box set, which will be distributed via Shout! Factory (SRP $174.98). It will include all 11 discs from the more deluxe set, with a 40-page book, 8 art cards, the Official Dub and Subtitled versions, and the bonus Classic Dub and Subtitled versions. You’ll also get over seven hours worth of extras. Street date is expected to be 11/9. You can see the packaging above-left and also here below...

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray Disc Box set)

Note that there’s also a standard-edition Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Complete Series Blu-ray release due that same day (SRP is TBA).

Meanwhile, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed over the weekend that they’re working on new 4K Ultra HD releases of In Bruges (2008) and Some Like It Hot (1959) via their catalog deal with MGM. The street dates are still TBA, but they’re listed as coming soon.

And Paramount has announced a new Vanilla Sky: Paramount Presents Blu-ray release due to street on 11/16 (in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary) which will include the newly-remastered film plus legacy extras, and the new Filmmaker Focus: Cameron Crowe on Vanilla Sky featurette.

Paramount has also set a new It’s a Wonderful Life Blu-ray release for 11/16 to commemorate the film’s 75th anniversary. The 2-disc set will include the legacy extras, plus a Digital copy, and 10 collectible recipe cards from “Insight Editions’ It’s a Wonderful Life: The Official Bailey Family Cookbook with cuisine inspired by the film.”

Finally today, we need to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actor Ed Asner (of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant, Up, and Elf fame) as well as (a couple weeks ago) the great martial arts actor Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter, Battle Royale II, Kill Bill). You can read more about each of them by clicking on the name links. Each will surely be missed.

Back tomorrow with more (or later with any breaking news on LOTR). Stay tuned...

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

 

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