In addition, the 4K release will feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras on both Blu-ray versions will include an Alternate Opening, Deleted Scenes, and 6 featurettes (The Genesis of Gemini Man, Facing Your Younger Self, The Future Is Now, Setting the Action, Next Level Detail, and The Vision of Ang Lee). The 4K will also include the Visual Effects Progression Presented by WETA featurette in 4K, 60fps, with HDR. You can see the cover artwork above left and also below.
Speaking of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, they’ve just announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland: Double Tap on 1/21, with the Digital release expected on 12/24. Look for HDR10 and DTS:X on the 4K disc. Extras will include audio commentary with the director, Extended Bloopers & Outtakes, 9 Alternate & Extended Scenes (including The Beast is Gone, Van Rides, Would of Never Met, In Bed, Breakfast at Babylon, Car Ride, Melting Gun, There’s a Party Tonight, and Alternate Proposal), and 7 featurettes (including The Doppelgangers, The Rides of Zombieland, Rules of Making a Zombie Film, Making Babylon, New Blood, Single Take Doppelganger Fight, and Zombieland Ad Council). You’ll find the cover artwork below.
Sony has also announced the 4K Ultra HD release of John Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood on 2/4/20. All of the previous Blu-ray extras will carry over, and the 4K disc itself will add 4 new features: A John Singleton Tribute, the Theatrical Press Conference, a Behind-the-Scenes featurette, and the film’s theatrical trailer. Expect HDR10 and Dolby Atmos audio. You’ll also find that cover artwork below.
And we have one more bit of 4K/Blu-ray release news that isn’t yet official but may as well be: Multiple retail sources are now reporting that Warner’s Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K release of Todd Phillips’s Joker is due on 1/7/20. So we would expect an official announcement by the studio any day now. We’ll let you know when it happens.
We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly.
Meanwhile today, GKids has just announced that most of the Studio Ghibli animated films will finally be available to purchase digitally in the US and Canada on 12/17, in both English and Japanese versions. You’ll find them apparently on all of the usual digital platforms.
Also, our friend Bob Furmanek of the 3-D Film Archive has launched a new Kickstarter to fund the restoration of the 1949 Abbott and Costello film Africa Screams. The film’s nitrate stock is apparently deteriorating and it’s now or never for saving it, so be sure to head over to this link and pitch in your support. There are a number of pledge levels, many of which include a copy of the film on Blu-ray when the project is finished. Bob’s a great guy and the 3-D Film Archive does wonderful work, so we strongly encourage fans to help in this important effort.
And in other news, some of you may be aware that Christopher Dennis passed away recently. Better known to LA-area cinephiles as the “Hollywood Superman,” Dennis was one of several costumed characters who posed for pictures with people on Hollywood Blvd near the Chinese Theater. I crossed paths with him a few times over the years, including at Warner’s press screening for the Superman II: Richard Donner Cut. He was a truly good human being, but one who struggled his entire life with addiction issues and homelessness. He was just 52 when he died. A crowdfunding campaign was started to pay for his funeral costs, and an anonymous donor stepped up to pay for everything. Dennis will be buried in his Superman costume. If you live in the LA area and would like to attend, the funeral service will be open to the public and held this coming Saturday, December 7th at Old North Church Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive. Services begin at 12 PM. You can read more here at Deadline.
Finally today, this one pains me to report: The legendary Star Trek scribe Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana has died today of cancer at the age of 80. Not only was she Trek’s first female writer, she as much as anyone helped to craft the backstory of the beloved Vulcan character Spock, played by the late Leonard Nimoy. Fontana wrote a number of episodes of The Original Series, including Charlie X, This Side of Paradise, Journey to Babel, The Ultimate Computer, and The Enterprise Incident. She also wrote the Yesteryear episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, the Encounter of Farpoint pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation, episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Waltons, Dallas, Logan’s Run, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bonanza, and many other TV series, books, and additional projects. She was, quite simply, a legend. My friend David Gerrold, also an original Star Trek writer, has written a lovely remembrance of Fontana here on Facebook today—it’s worth your time. And you can read more here via The New York Times. Thank you for so much great work, D.C.—Trek fans everywhere are in your debt.
All right, we’ll leave you today with a look at that cover artwork mentioned above, with Amazon links if available...
Back tomorrow. Stay tuned...
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)