How are back catalog titles chosen for Blu-ray release?

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 10th 2008 at 9:21PM

C'mon, you know you've asked yourself this. After all, aren't we all tense with anticipation just waiting to see what titles studios are planning to re-release on BD, only to kvetch mightily after our favorite flicks get pushed aside for films that "no one will watch?" Thankfully, Sound & Vision has taken at least some of the mystery out and has revealed five shortcuts to getting a film released on Blu-ray. Essentially, studios are looking for titles that will enable BD setups to shine, and if the movie has proven popular in the past, there's a decent shot the demand will be there for a BD release. Additionally, studios love re-releasing originals when a sequel is in theaters, and of course, if it can stop long enough to hear fans clamoring for a specific title, that too could urge them to crank out a 1080p edition. Be sure and give the read link a visit for the full rundown.

Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray

Tags: archives, backcatalog, bd, blu-ray, industry, re-release, releases, studio, studios

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Mitch @ Jun 10th 2008 9:40PM

They really do release some pitiful catalog titles sometimes... and drag their feet FOREVER to get out the stuff people actually will buy.

Lucasfilm... what takes you so long!?

Highest Ranked

FrankTheCrank @ Jun 11th 2008 9:10AM

Lucasfilm is always the last to jump on board.

This is how they'll do it too;

The new animated Star Wars movie is coming this summer, so, don't expect the "classics" to be out just yet. First this anime(summer08), then the video(Christmas08), possibly Bluray for the anime. Then just before the TV show starts, what do you know, a Bluray BOX SET of episodes 1-6....no, you won't be able to buy the indvidual films just yet. You will have to buy the WHOLE set, for probably $150. Then after they milk that monkey and sales start to lag....here come the individual movies. And sales data for the individual movies will show once again that Empire Strikes Back, the only movie not directed by King George, will sell the most.

This is what they did for Indiana Jones. And if I'm not mistaken, the same for the Star Wars when they landed on DVD.

Neutral

FrankTheCrank @ Jun 11th 2008 9:12AM

BTW, one other thing...

The classics have already been digitally remastered and have shown up in HD format on Cinemax.

I doubt it would take much to send the masters to the disc plant and burn a bazillion copies.

Neutral

Taylor @ Jun 10th 2008 10:54PM

It takes a ton of legal paperwork for most films to get released on a new medium. Rarely were they able to anticipate the new formats of the future (reason for the writer walk-out last year) and the contracts did not stipulate how a blu-ray disc would be handled (since no one knew about blu-ray 5 plus years ago). The reason you get these really 'pitiful' titles released is because it was a b-list film to start and everyone just signed their rights away all together and it's easy to do things when you don't need more legal paper work done on those projects. Not only is it easy to get them out, but much cheaper b/c of that legal process you can skip over.

Neutral

Gamerdad @ Jun 10th 2008 10:56PM

Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I'm looking at you.

Neutral

Raptor007 @ Jun 13th 2008 8:14PM

Extended Edition please! Dual-layer Blu-ray has to be good for SOMETHING, right?

Neutral

Steve @ Jun 10th 2008 11:07PM

I think it's about damn time that Universal announces Children of Men on BD.

Neutral

tony @ Jun 11th 2008 12:08AM

personally, id love to see the following on BD

Neverending story 1 & 2
Flight of the Navigator
Labyrinth

lets get those classics otu there, and hey, lets leave the deleted footage from NES1 in the movie this time like the german version, damn usa editors

Neutral

EQC @ Jun 11th 2008 3:27AM

Holy wow man!

Neverending story and Flight of the Navigator are great films...would love to see them re-released! I'm not sure if I've ever even seen Flight of the Navigator for sale on DVD in a brick-and-mortar shop...

Neutral

DirtyVonDutch @ Jun 11th 2008 1:44AM

@Tony

Here in the Netherlands since this week we have the Neverending story 1 on blu-ray released by Dutch Film Works. The transfer is however not without flaws. At the start of the movie you see a lot of white specs and scratches. Also the sound is only DTS 5.1 (not the HD kind). However i enyoyed the movie.

Neutral

LiqwidZero @ Jun 11th 2008 10:01AM

That's amazing, seriously; DFW usually ships movies as DTS-HD MA. That's pretty much a load of fail now that I hear it's just plain DTS. What happened with that?

Highly Ranked

XDragon @ Jun 11th 2008 6:48AM

Fox has been decent with Independence Day and I, Robot. Now we wait for Gladiator, LOTR(next year), Indianan Jones, Star Wars, Devil's Advocate, X-Men 1&2, ...and the list goes on.

Neutral

Zach @ Jun 11th 2008 9:25AM

Will Smith really must have wanted his films released in HD. I bought the LOTR extended dvd box set and have watched it about once (even though I really like the films). Don't know if I'll re-buy them on BR. Gladiator on the other hand I'll definitely re-buy. Can't wait for that. Indy, Star Wars, X-Men 1 & 2 will probably be bought as well.

Neutral

Maverick Saturn @ Jun 11th 2008 11:50AM

I always assumed it was random.

Neutral

Aron @ Jun 12th 2008 11:18AM

Screw Star Wars....

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