First up, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just officially set Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist (1982) for release on the format on 9/20, in honor of the film’s 40th anniversary. The 4K will be available in both regular Amaray and Best Buy-exclusive Steelbook packaging. Legacy extras will include They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists documentary, The Making of Poltergeist featurette, and a theatrical trailer.
WB will also release Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys (1987) on 4K Ultra HD that same day, in honor of its 35th anniversary. The legacy features will include audio commentary by director Joel Schumacher, The Lost Boys: A Retrospective, the 4-part Inside the Vampire’s Cave documentary, 2 featurettes (including Vamping Out: The Undead Creations of Greg Cannom and Haimster & Feldog: The Story of the 2 Coreys), the A World of Vampires interactive map, The Lost Scenes, Lou Gramm’s Lost in the Shadows music video, and the film’s trailer.
You can see the cover art for The Lost Boys above left and both titles below.
Also coming from Warner Bros. on 10/11 on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD are a pair of new animated titles: DC League of Super-Pets and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind.
And it appears that Warner will be releasing a slimmed-down Middle-Earth 6-Film Collection 4K UHD box set on 9/20, at least internationally. This appears to be a more basic version of last year’s 31-Disc Collection 4K box set in more traditional packaging, but we don’t have any other official details at the moment. You can see the listing here on Amazon.fr and here’s what the box art looks like (thanks to the various Bits readers who alerted us to this)...
Meanwhile, Disney and Pixar have just announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of the CG-animated Lightyear on 9/13. The Digital release is expected on 8/3. Extras will include audio commentary with director Angus MacLane, writer Jason Headley, and director of photography Jeremy Lasky, 6 deleted scenes (with director introduction), and a trio of behind-the-scenes featurettes (Building the World of Lightyear, The Zap Patrol, and Toyetic). Note that the 4K UHD SKU will include Dolby Atmos audio, while the Blu-ray will feature 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. You can see the cover artwork below.
Sony is re-issuing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Gattaca, Last Action Hero, Zombieland, Zombieland: Double Tap, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level, Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in 4K Steelbook packaging on 9/27. These are all branded as “Limited Edition Reprints.”
Not done yet... retail sources have informed us that Universal is working on a number of good catalog 4K Ultra HD titles for release later this year. We’ve already mentioned Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (due 9/12), To Kill a Mockingbird (due 10/11), and 8 Mile (due 11/8), but the studio is also working on a new E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial – 40th Anniversary Edition for release on 10/18.
What’s more, Universal is expected to announced a new Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection – Volume 2 box set for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/11, which will include four more films in the series. We don’t have official confirmation of the specific titles, but we believe them to be The Mummy (1932), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Phantom of the Opera (1943), and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). Also coming that same day will be long-awaited 4K UHD singles of the four films from the first box set, Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), and The Wolf Man (1941). These were previously only released in the US as Best Buy-exclusive Steelbooks.
Retail sources are also reporting that John Badam’s WarGames (1983) is coming to 4K Ultra HD this year, with a tentative street date of 12/6, and we’ve confirmed that it’s a Shout! Factory title licensed from MGM. That should be a good one and it will have Dolby Vision HDR.
And Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just announced that they’re working on a 4K Ultra HD release of Frank Oz’s The Score (2001). It’s reportedly “coming soon” and it will include a new Dolby Vision HDR grade approved by cinematographer Rob Hahn.
Our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits has been updated with all of these titles accordingly.
Also, on the standard Blu-ray front today, the MVD Entertainment Group has revealed a new MVD Rewind Collection title for release on 10/25... James Foley’s At Close Range (1986). The film stars Sean Penn and Christopher Walken.
Finally today, we need to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of a pair of actors over the past few days...
Paul Sorvino (83) was best known for his role in Goodfellas, but additional appearances included Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer, Oh, God! and many more. He also starred in early seasons of TV’s Law & Order. You can read more here at the NY Times and here on Deadline.
And David Warner (80) was a prolific actor in theater and film, whose big-screen appearances included The Omen, Time After Time, TRON, Time Bandits, The Man with Two Brains, Titanic, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Planet of the Apes (2001), and Mary Poppins Returns. You can read more on his career here via CNN and BBC News.
Both will be missed.
All right, we’ll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for Lightyear, Poltergeist, and The Lost Boys in 4K Ultra HD (Amazon.com pre-order links will be added as they go live)...
Have a great weekend! See you Monday…
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)