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Tuesday, 22 July 2014 16:20

Godzilla (2014), Game of Thrones: S4, Caesar’s new Apes BD box, Krull, The Roosevelts & James Garner RIP

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All right, LOT of ground to cover today. Updates this week are going to be a little sporadic, as Comic-Con week brings with it an intense flurry of visitors, meetings and other very important business here at The Bits. BUT… rest assured we will catch you up on all the important developments soon enough.

First up here at the site today, Dr. Jahnke has turned in a new installment of his An Honor to Be Nominated, featuring a look back at a Comic-Con appropriate former Oscar nominee… Skippy (1931)! It’s well worth your time, so do check it out.

Also today, Russell Hammond has posted the weekly Release Dates & Artwork update and note that our very own Todd Doogan will chime in tomorrow with his weekly Doogan’s Queue.

Now then… Comic-Con week also brings with it lots of announcement news, so let’s get right to it. [Read on here…]

To start with today, Warner Home Video has officially set Godzilla (2014) for Blu-ray 3D Combo (in a Limited Edition “Metalpak” with embossed cover art), Blu-ray Combo, DVD and digital release on 9/16 (SRP $44.95, $35.99 and $28.95). Extras on all versions will include the 2-part MONARCH: Declassified documentary (Operation: Lucky Dragon, MONARCH: The M.U.T.O. File, and The Godzilla Revelation) and the 4-part The Legendary Godzilla documentary (Godzilla: Force of Nature, A Whole New Level of Destruction, Into the Void: The H.A.L.O. Jump, and Ancient Enemy: The M.U.T.O.s). Will there be retail exclusives? Probably. You can see the cover artwork below.

Also, Amazon is now taking pre-orders on HBO’s Blu-ray version of Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season. Street date is TBA, but you can find the cover art and pre-order link below.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox is going to be releasing a 4-disc and limited edition Planet of the Apes: Caesar’s Warrior Collection Blu-ray box set in time for the holidays, and they’re going to be previewing it at Comic-Con in San Diego later this week. The set will include both the 2-disc special edition of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the forthcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (now in theaters) in special Caesar head packaging designed by WETA. Here’s what it looks like…

Planet of the Apes: Caeser's Warrior Box (Blu-ray Disc)

The studio will also be taking pre-orders on The Fault in Our Stars, Fargo: Season One (the FX series), How to Train Your Dragon 2, and other titles. Still no word about The Abyss and True Lies, but stay tuned.

Also today… Sony will release The Goldbergs: The Complete First Season on DVD on 9/9.

CBS and Paramount have set Walker, Texas Ranger: Something in the Shadows for DVD release on 8/19 exclusively at Walmart stores.

Mill Creek Entertainment has licensed the sci-fi/fantasy film Krull from Sony for Blu-ray release on 9/30. They’re also re-issuing Blue Thunder that day. Again, you’ll find cover art below.

Olive Films has announced that they’re releasing two classic films from director Sion Sono on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/14, including Guilty of Romance and Himizu.

And PBS has announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of the new Ken Burns documentary series The Roosevelts: An Intimate History on 9/16 (SRP $129.99 and $99.99).

Finally today, we would be seriously remiss if we did not take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actor James Garner on Saturday night. He was 86. Garner had a long career on the big screen, including roles in such films as The Americanization of Emily, Grand Prix, Duel at Diablo, Support Your Local Sheriff!, Murphy’s Romance, Fire in the Sky, The Notebook and many others. He played Wyatt Earp twice, in Hour of the Gun and Sunset. He even played an astronaut in Space Cowboys. But it’s for his starring roles in TV’s Maverick and The Rockford Files that many fans will remember him best, myself included. As anyone who grew up then knows, Rockford Files was one of the great TV shows of the 1970s, with a classic TV theme song. Here it is (below) for kicks and you can read more on Garner here at The New York Times. He will surely be missed.

Here’s the cover artwork for Warner’s Godzilla and Roger and Me (due 10/7), HBO’s Game of Thrones: Season 4, Universal’s Bates Motel: Season Two (10/7), and Mill Creek’s Krull , and PBS’ Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts

Godzilla (Blu-ray Disc)    Roger & Me (Blu-ray Disc)    Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season (Blu-ray Disc)

Bates Motel: Season Two (Blu-ray Disc)    Krull (Blu-ray Disc)    The Roosevelts (Blu-ray Disc)

All right, back tomorrow. Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt