Look for it to include Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1989) (Spine #948 – 4K Ultra HD) on 9/5, Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout (Spine #10 – 4K Ultra HD) on 9/12, Orson Welles’ The Trial (1962) (Spine #1191 – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Combo and Blu-ray) on 9/19, and Luis Valdez’s La Bamba (1987) (Spine #1193 – Blu-ray) and Brett Morgan’s Moonage Daydream (2022) (Spine #1192 – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Combo and Blu-ray) on 9/26. You can read more on all of these here, and you can see the cover artwork below.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics has set Paul Schrader’s Hardcore (1979), Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby (1978), and Peter Hall’s Three Into Two Won’t Go (1969) for release on Blu-ray on 8/22.
The company has also just officially set Sydney Pollack’s 3 Days of the Condor (1975) and Sylvester Stallone’s Staying Alive: 40th Anniversary Edition (1983) for 4K Ultra HD release on 8/29.
And for you Babylon 5 fans, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is releasing the animated Babylon 5: The Road Home (2023) on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 8/15, featuring the voice talents of original cast members Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Peter Jurasik, Bill Mumy, Tracy Scoggins, and Patricia Tallman. Here’s a look at the film’s trailer...
We’re not done yet by a long shot!
Some of you may recall that we reported way back in November of last year that Warner Bros. and New Line would be releasing David Fincher’s Se7en in 4K Ultra HD in the coming months (click here for that). Well, the bad news is that the title has been delayed until early 2024... but the good news is that Fincher himself has now confirmed that he is indeed working on the 4K remaster. He made the revelation while speaking during a Q&A with Steven Soderbergh at the 2023 Tribeca Festival last night, per this report at The Hollywood Reporter. The upshot is that 4K remastering takes time, and Fincher is meticulous about it. (This almost certainly explains the delay in Sony releasing Panic Room in 4K as well.) In any case, very good news!
Finally today, we have a quick follow-up for you on our soapbox post from Wednesday about Star Trek: Picard – Season Three…
Bits reader James Stanley Barr has just started a Change.org petition (linked here) to convince CBS and Paramount to release Star Trek: Picard – Season Three on 4K Ultra HD in addition to regular Blu-ray. So we’d like to ask all of you who are readers, fans of the season, and/or fans of 4K Ultra HD in general to please sign and share it widely on social media.
I have also launched a poll on my Twitter feed where you can show your preference for Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD on this title. And I’m told that the studios are closely paying attention to fan interest in this, as well as pre-sale demand for the Blu-ray, which is now officially set for release on 9/5 (both in regular Amaray packaging and also Steelbook packaging). You can see the cover artwork for each below.
CBS and Paramount releasing a Blu-ray first and then a 4K UHD is not unprecedented—the same thing happened with Jack Ryan: Season One and Season Two, as well as the recently-released Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season One. And in all three cases, it was fan demand that got the 4K moving. This is definitely a case where you all have a real chance to make this happen, so please sure to chime in and share all of this as widely and often as you can!
All right, we’ll leave you today with a look at the cover artwork for several of the tiles mentioned above, and each is linked to its respective Amazon.com pre-order page if available. (Remember, any time you order titles from Amazon after clicking through to them from one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it!)...
With that, watch for our review of Avatar: The Way of Water in 4K, be sure to do something nice for your dads (if possible) on Father’s Day this Sunday, and have a great weekend!
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)