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Posted: |
Nov 15, 2012 - 7:17 AM
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By: |
joec
(Member)
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Warner Archive Collection Adds Blu-ray to its Growing Catalog
WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION ANNOUNCES
FIRST BLU-RAY™ RELEASES
Deathtrap and Gypsy
Will be Followed by More Releases in 2013
Burbank, Calif., November 15, 2012 -- The Warner Archive Collection (WAC) – the Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) division dedicated to releasing on DVD previously unavailable films and television shows – today announced the launch of its first Blu-ray™ titles. The two titles, Deathtrap and Gypsy, will debut on November 20. Beginning in February 2013, WAC expects to release a minimum of one to two Blu-ray titles per month. Future titles include The Hudsucker Proxy and Fearless.
WAC reports that the Blu-ray discs will be replicated in limited quantities and fulfilled on demand. All releases will leverage high quality 1080p masters. In many instances, as with Deathtrap, the films will be available for the first time for home viewing in their original widescreen format.
Starting as a modest initiative, WAC has quickly grown to become a new business model for the studio and a recognized industry leader. Since launching in March 2009, WAC has released more than 1,500 films, short subjects, TV movies and mini-series that otherwise would not have been available, providing a valuable service to film lovers everywhere.
Now, WAC’s entry into the Blu-ray market is the latest example of its fast growth and increasing popularity with consumers who have embraced the technology as the standard for the highest quality home movie viewing on disc. This year, domestic sales of catalog titles on Blu-ray grew 22% in the third quarter from a year earlier. In fact, Blu-ray sales have shown impressive gains every quarter in 2012, continuing the trend set in 2011 over 2010 when sales were up 20%.[1]
In making the Blu-ray announcement, WBDD President Thomas Gewecke said, “This is an important innovation that fulfills consumer demand for high definition releases that otherwise would not be available in physical formats. We’re excited to have the opportunity to further expand the Warner Archive Collection into the Blu-ray marketplace with an impressive slate of releases.”
Warner Archive Collection titles can be purchased through their web site (www.warnerarchive.com) for $21.99 SRP or through other leading online retailers.
More about the Films
Deathtrap
Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve co-star in the wickedly funny “who’ll-do-it?” adapted from the Broadway smash penned by suspense master Ira Levin by famed director Sidney Lumet. Also stars Dyan Cannon.
Gypsy
This musical version drawn from the life of famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee tells the bittersweet tale of an aggressive stage mother (Rosalind Russell) and the effects of her devotion to her two young daughters (Natalie Wood and Ann Jillian). Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim provide the show-stopping music and lyrics. Also stars Karl Malden.
The Hudsucker Proxy
Tim Robbins and Paul Newman star in this biting business satire from the Coen brothers . Standing the Horatio Alger myth on its head, Robbins play the naïf with an idea (“You know…for the kids!”) that sails up from mailroom to boardroom, all under the Machiavellian hand of board member Sidney J. Mussburger (Newman). Also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Campbell, from a script by the Coen brothers and Sam Raimi.
Fearless
Peter Weir (Master and Commander) directs an unforgettable Jeff Bridges in this tour-de-force film focusing on transcendence in the face of our greatest fears. Following a horrific plane crash, two survivors (Bridges and Rosie Perez) help each other search for meaning, while the spouse (Isabella Rossellini) of one searches for signs of the man she married in the man that emerged from the wreck. Also stars Tom Hulce and John Turturro.
With operations in 90 international territories, Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video’s film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment.
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Great news! It's about freakin' time we got Deathtrap and Fearless in widescreen format!
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Posted: |
Nov 15, 2012 - 12:52 PM
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By: |
manderley
(Member)
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......WAC reports that the Blu-ray discs will be replicated in limited quantities and fulfilled on demand.....
This sentence is appropriately vague. What does it mean?
....."replicated in limited quantities" implies that the discs will be PRESSED in small numbers (perhaps 500-1000 at a time) and delivered to customers as they are ordered. This would follow the TCM/Universal pattern of pressing limited quantities of selected featured titles on regular DVDs......and then making DVD-Rs when the limited pressing runs out. On the other hand, it might mean that it takes such a process to "burn" a Blu-ray that they have to produce a stock of them before announcing, so that they can ship them out as they are ordered.
....."fulfilled on demand" could imply "burned" Blu-rays, or it could simply be a way of saying the ordered disc will be shipped out (from the pressed supply) when it IS ordered, and not actually "made on demand".
I will be very, VERY wary of these until I know how they are being manufactured. I keep hearing that "burned" Blu-rays are very difficult to achieve successfully en masse, and then are fairly unreliable, with a high "coaster" rate, when burned.
I've always felt that the film industry which is producing these things is keenly interested in having a delivery medium that is not all that permanent, with secret hopes that they will eventually self-destruct after the warranties are expired, and you'll have to buy another---if it is even available.
It's a little like chiseling your name on a graveside marker made of sandstone instead of marble, which would last.
Thank goodness for the pressed Blu-rays of Twilight Time and Olive Films!
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where's my KUNG FU season One in 1:78????!!!!!
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Hi guys, I have it from a high authority that these are pressed blurays, not replicated per order.
Lukas
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Since DeathTrap is finally getting the widescreen treatment, I really hope WB corrects the denial of proper treatment to a classic '80s comedy that has only been available on a full screen DVD since 97....Carl Reiner's The Man with Two Brains. Please, WB.
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