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VIDEO SOFTWARE DEALERS ASSOCIATION '99 by Peter M. Bracke Day One - July 8 - Studio Scorecard Though there wasn't a massive number of announcements at Day One of the show, there was much of interest, though not all of it was positive. Note that due to time constraints, I will not be able to add features and confirmed street dates to the database until Monday or Tuesday of next week. So, here we go with a rundown of my day one findings at the show, in the order I visited them. Paramount Well, we might as well get it out of the way. Paramount announced the long hoped-for Indiana Jones trilogy special edition and the complete series of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episodes. However, and grab a hold of something, they are VHS only. Go ahead, through your mouse at the screen. And, sorry to say, they had clips of the new Indy Trilogy documentary footage, complete with new interviews with Spielberg, Lucas and the cast and crew, and it looked really good (dammit!). However, I talked with a very nice Paramount rep, and in all honesty you can blame Spielberg and Lucas. I did genuinely believe it, and judging by the news at the rest of the show, it is clear the terrible two are holding out on DVD for this holiday season at least. Needless to say, I will be following up with Lucasfilm and Amblin if I can to find out why the continued holdout for DVD.
However, moving away from such unpleasantness, I was given a little sneak peek at more coming Paramount titles. Coming this fall and winter are a special-ish edition of Chinatown (with a new transfer and interviews) and its sequel The Two Jakes, the classic Stalag 17, the complete Warren Beatty epic Reds, the "rockumentary" U2 Rattle & Hum (which will be the same as the theatrical version and not contain any of the rumored extra songs), the action flick The Presidio, the comedies Tommy Boy and Scrooged, and the teen fun of Clueless. Also look for a day & date South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (though Paramount will NOT be releasing an NC-17 version), along with Beavis & Butthead Do America. Paramount will also be tying in Wayne's World 1 & 2 with the November release of Austin Powers 2 day & date with VHS. Already announced titles included the classic Star Trek episodes, the confirmation of Star Trek IV this year, as well as Star Trek: Next Generation episodes due in 2000 (assuming that the original Trek series collections are a hit). Also, a double dose of classic romantic comedy will arrive with Barefoot In The Park and Breakfast At Tiffany's, and more titles such as the first two Friday The 13th flicks, Election and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And, of course, there is that big boat called Titanic coming in late August. As
far as Paramount's general DVD approach for the coming year
and beyond, I had a very nice conversation with a rep, and
she was very nice, answering most of my questions in a refreshingly
straightforward manner. First, and I feel this to be true,
but Paramount is listening to consumers more, and taking it
one step at a time. "Our approach with DVD has been incremental"
she explained. "We have the best in the business for
production, and we spent a lot of time with the learning curve"
on that end of the spectrum for DVD. She further added that
they (Paramount) will be working more with the press (which
I can vouch for, I have been talking with them far more lately),
and are now tackling "getting our day & date commitments
met, as well as approaching value-added features" in
a more aggressive way. On that end, the upcoming day &
date release of The General's Daughter will include
their first director's commentary made with DVD in mind, and
they are still working with Francis Ford Coppola on a special
edition for Apocalypse Now. Most likely, however, the
latter will probably not arrive until 2000 now. I really think
Paramount will get better and better in 2000, and hopefully
won't loose their footing the way Fox and Buena Vista seem
to have done. Paramount also confirmed their commitment to 16x9 enhancement, and though I believe they made a mistake not presenting Titanic in anamorphic, it was revealed (though no one would give a official comment for print) with some digging on my part that the non-16x9 Titanic was a group decision between Fox, Paramount and Lightstorm before Paramount began doing 16x9 across the board. In maybe more distressing news, we may see an anamorphic DVD of Titanic "sometime in the future." Look for more on this with a story I am working on specifically on the whole Titanic 16x9 issue. HBO Next to the paramount booth was HBO, who had some exciting plans, and the rep there was also really nice, open and friendly. To be honest, though, I have always thought HBO's output has been spotty, though often daring as well. For example, their From The Earth To The Moon set was really impressive, but they have also put out some Pan & Scan disc that were somewhat lacking.
Speaking of anamorphic, HBO has many of the same problems most independents who license titles have, namely that they often just can't get a new transfer made of a film for DVD. But, they will do 16x9 transfers when they can. Also cool and coming in late 1999 or 2000 are a 20th Anniversary Edition of Meatballs, which may feature a commentary by Ivan Reitman and Bill Murray if they can swing it (I hope I didn't just jinx it). This disc as well has a new 16x9 transfer. Also, there may be more Tales From The Crypt episode collections if the first Zemeckis release does well. And not to be outdone by their From The Earth To The Moon set, in late 2000, they will be premiering a 26 hour (!) set of The World At War, the acclaimed series. And even more exciting for some of you, expect an unnamed Ken Burns documentary in the future as well (though I suppose we could guess if we tried really hard). Of particular interest, and due in 2001, is a coproduction of Steven Spielberg and TOm Hanks for a miniseries called Band Of Brothers. You may have heard of this, and it is set to start airing in 2000. However, the HBO rep commented on the Spielberg holdout on DVD, though he made the interesting comment that "he (Spielberg) is definitely doing DVD" for this title, and it seems to me that Spielberg is just holding out as the base of players increases. Kinda interesting, huh? Lastly, I mentioned the interest in some of HBO's original programming. The rep explained that many of the popular HBO series like The Sopranos, Oz and Sex & The City are often produced by independent production companies, and rights have to be renegotiated for a DVD release. However, HBO is definitely looking into it, though their original movies are all set for DVD releases in the future, usually a few months after they premiere on the cable network. USA The former Polygram made a showing on the floor next to HBO, and though they didn't have an extensive slate to announce, they did confirm just a strong commitment to DVD as they had when they were Polygram. Of course, some of their catalog titles now belong to MGM, and they did announce some upcoming goodies like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Cookie's Fortune and the acclaimed Holocaust documentary The Last Days. As USA gears up its theatrical division, expect more product to come from them I did ask about the legendary Xena: Warrior Princess on DVD, and a rep there indicated that there are still issues for a DVD release of the title, even though USA Networks airs the series. I related the fan interest in the show, and indeed USA is very aware of the Xena cult. A 2000 release is not out of the question, and I think if USA can get the legalities worked out, we will see Xena on DVD. New Line
Also, in really great news, New Line confirmed that they are working on a Platinum Series edition of Seven, which will be getting a nice and shiny new High-Definition transfer. There is concern about the supplements from the Criterion disc being held up, but well, it is an iffy, off-the-record kind of a thing. But New Line says they will be doing a great disc regardless of what happens. Also cool from New Line is that they have heard the pleas from DVD enthusiasts to dip more into their catalog titles. They plan on issuing around 3 new catalog titles a month in 1999 and into 2000. Some of these cool library titles include In The Mouth Of Madness, Poison Ivy, Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me, a full line of John Waters "classics" such as Pink Flamingos, as well as The Hidden. Look for some of these, though, to come out in 2000 and not necessarily in 1999. Aside from that, I really didn't have too many other questions for New Line. Let's face it, they do DVD right, and you don't hear too many complaints about them, do you? Artisan Though not exhibiting on the floor, they did hold their own preshow bash on Tuesday, and had some info available at the show itself. First, they confirmed that The Stand will be coming in late October as the world's first DVD-18, and will be priced at $39.95 (not bad for an 8-hour program!). Also, in great news for sci-fi fans, they also confirmed the late 1999 release of the Stargate Special Edition, which will be a dual-layer disc sporting a new 16x9 transfer of the director's cut, which includes 9 minutes of additional footage. Also, it will have all the supplements of the laserdisc and some cool new menus. Also up is a special edition of Drugstore Cowboy, with a new commentary featuring Gus Van Sant and Matt Dillion, a already-planned special edition with cut scenes and more of the instant cult classic The Blair Witch Project, day & date editions of Black Mask and Buena Vista Social Club (with a commentary), and plenty more catalog titles licensed to Pioneer (see tomorrow for more after I visit the Pioneer booth). In more DVD-18 news, Artisan did mention possible DVD-18 sets of the Twin Peaks series and the Lonesome Dove miniseries. Both are definitely coming in one for or another, but not until 2000. Also, they plan more Hallmark television productions, as previous releases like Merlin have done very well for them. Lastly, the Terminator 2: Judgment Day special edition is definitely coming, and work continues with Lightstorm. I wouldn't expect it until 2000, but I am just guessing... Twentieth Century Fox Though not on the show floor, Fox did have some reps and info available if you could track them down. Of course, the big questions surround Fox CEO's Bill Mechanic's comments basically dissing DVD in favor of Digital Video Tape and what he felt was a mistake on the part of most of the industry in rolling out DVD "in an inappropriate basis as opposed to a sensible basis" (see more on this in the July 1 editorial). Not surprisingly, all queries on Mr. Mechanic's comments were greeted with a terse "no comment." I guess I don't blame them if my boss said that, too.
However, there were a few announcements from Fox. First up is their Millennium Collection, "spanning the millennium from the silent era through the special effects age." It features 20 of Fox's "most memorable films." Some of these titles are already on DVD (including Speed, Romeo and Juliet and The King And I), and all are eventually slated for DVD, only six more were given official street dates. On October 5, look for All About Eve, Big, Broadcast News, How Green Was My Valley, Mrs. Doubtfire (without the special edition features, argh!) and the Michael Mann version of The Last Of The Mohicans. The rest of the films are due "sometime after" these next six, and include the Chaplin classic City Lights, The Grapes of Wrath, 1944's Laura, Gentleman's Agreement, The African Queen, An Affair To Remember, The Hustler, The Verdict, Mike Nichol's Working Girl, The War Of The Roses (again, movie-only), and Nine Months. All titles will be in their original theatrical aspect ratios. I also asked about a number of Fox titles announced at the show for VHS collections, such as The Fly and The Omen movies, a few Audrey Hepburn gems, Planet Of The Apes, and more, but "there are no DVD plans announced at this time" (not that that necessary means anything). Same goes for some rumored titles like Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and Buffy The Vampire Episodes. It seems pretty apparent that Fox is doing mostly catalog titles of varying attractiveness (of course that is subjective), and certainly isn't giving anything the ALIEN Legacy treatment anytime soon. However, they did announced the official September 7 arrival of a special edition of Strange Days, priced a bit lower for them at $29.95. It includes two deleted scenes and a Katherine Bigelow commentary. Alas, along with The Abyss disc (which is still not officially set), neither will get a new transfers, and certainly not hi-def masters (and yes, Lightstorm, the production company owned by James Cameron, is in on this). Once again, blame it on "cost issues'. Cheap! Most disturbing was word from sources that the main reason for the lack of 16x9 enhancement is, quite simply, money. Fox "plans to use their existing materials," i.e., existing transfers, and there is some measure of internal squabbling in regards to the anamorphic issue. Also, "considerable negotiations are necessary" in terms of talent and other issues with using supplements, and quite simply Fox just doesn't seem that determined to include extras from the laser releases on the DVDs. Let's hope saner voices prevail at Fox sometime soon, before they break off from the rest of Hollywood and sink into the Pacific Ocean. DreamWorks Another studio I really love, DreamWorks has some great DVD titles coming. Though there presence at the show was rather small, mainly as a part of the Universal exhibit (who distributes their product on video), the reps there were very nice, and I had a really fun chat with them. Their enthusiasms for DVD is readily apparent! In addition to the release of all six of their current titles on DTS, expect a day & date Forces Of Nature later in the year. Of course, though, their biggest release is the September bow of The Prince Of Egypt. This will be a great disc! Aside from the 16x9 transfer and 5.1 mix, features include an audio commentary by directors Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, "The Making of 'The Prince of Egypt'" - a half-hour focus that includes interviews with the producers, directors and animators, a technical EFX reel, highlighting the EFX team and the technical expertise they used in creating the visuals, multi-language clip of the song "When You Believe," the Chariot Race basics of animation with a multi-image look at the creation of the sequence, artistic design slide show, a viewer-guided tour through art and design elements used in creating the film, and two theatrical trailers. Whew! Also of interest in some DVD work going on already for DreamWork's big summer release The Haunting. This is one of the first DreamWork's titles where the DVD was thought of during filming, so expect some nice surprises when the disc shows up, most likely next year (but who knows with these shortened theatrical windows nowadays). Lastly, I suppose I should mention a little title called Saving Private Ryan. I know everyone has been reading bits at retail sites and such about a November day & date with VHS sel-through release, but I am continually told by Dreamworks it just isn't happening. Let's face it, if Spielberg won't even let The Goonies on DVD, do you really think he'll let Saving Private Ryan go out? Frustrating, for sure, but Dreamworks has more and more theatrical titles coming out, so Spielberg or no Spielberg, I think their product is top notch. Laserlight / Delta Entertainment On my way to another booth, I noticed a small but interesting Hitchcock display with a rack of DVDs. The Laserlight folks were very nice and gave out a nice brochure on a ton of early Hitchcock works coming to DVD. However, these are public domain titles for the most part I believe, so I can't vouch for the quality, but we can hope for the best. All the following are available separately, as well as in two 7-pack volumes. The complete titles for set one are The Secret Agent, The Skin Game, Number 17 / The Ring, Jamaica Inn, Young and Innocent, The Manxman and The 39 Steps. Set two contains Sabotage / The Lodger, Blackmail / Easy Virtue / Rich And Strange / The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Farmer's Wife, Murder!, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Lady vanishes. Strangely, no prices or street dates were listed. Maybe these are out already? Warner Unfortunately, my visit to the Warner booth was a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, they were very nice and I enjoyed it. However, there wasn't much in the way of title information, as Warner played it close to the vest (maybe my reputation proceeded me, ha ha).
Anyway, the biggest title they were promoting was probably The Wizard Of Oz, which though lacking the commentary tracks of The Ultimate Oz MGM box set of a few years back, will have 107 minutes of additional footage. It includes the digital remastered and new 5.1 sound mix, as well as a documentary hosted by Angela Lansbury, interviews with many of the cast and crew, rare on-set footage and the missing "Jitterbug Scene," extensive still gallery with sketches and photos, the making of the Tornado scene, excerpts from previous version of "Oz" and trailers. There is probably more, I'm sure! The disc is due 10/19 and retails for a bargain $24.95. Also coming October 12 is the next set (finally!) of South Park episodes, this one a four-episode Holiday Collection for $19.95. Also due later in the year is the 1998 version of Jack Frost. And John Boorman fans can also look forward to the long-awaited special edition of Excalibur, which features a new 16x9 transfer, commentary and some more "special surprises" (the general word is that it will be some additional footage). Also, look for Boorman's much-maligned Exorcist II: The Heretic. Alas, that was about all the new title info I could gleam for DVD beyond already announced titles like Analyze This and Message In A Bottle. Oh, wait, there was some other title called The Matrix. Look for a commentary, tons of behind the scenes and special effects footage, extensive DVD-ROM features and more, all for $24.95. Needless to say, this will be a huge seller. However, all was not well in Warner land for me. I talked to a nice rep about the budget line, and Warner is still gung-ho about it for the rest of the year, at least. Also, Warner continues to release special editions on VHS but not on DVD, like the upcoming The Outlaw Josey Wales special edition (argh!). Also, the reaction and sales of The Kubrick Collection haven't been particularly high, will may still rankle. And Warner related what we all pretty much know...despite everyone's desires, there is still a delay from Spielberg on the release of his titles, so no word yet on The Goonies or Empire Of The Sun, amongst others. So, a mixed bag from Warner. Maybe some other sites and press will be able to uncover some more good stuff from Warner. On To Day Two In part two, we check out the "DVD And The Director" Panel, a look at some rather shocking Warren Lieberfarb comments, and lots more new title info. Also, your shy webmaster makes a rare photographic appearance, with a porn star no less! What will my mother say? |
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