Now then... we’re going to jump from there right to 4K Ultra HD, because we have some news on upcoming catalog titles headed to the format. The UK retailer Zaavi has listed a Harry Potter 8-Film Collection for 4K Ultra HD release on 11/6, which means that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone for many of you), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire are all soon to be announced for release on 4K Ultra HD by Warner Bros Home Entertainment, as they originally revealed back in January. The cover art shown above left is the UK box set. We expect official US artwork with Warner’s announcement. (Thanks to Bits reader Simon B. for the heads-up!)
Not done yet: Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is soon to be announced for release on the format by Warner Bros Home Entertainment, and we’ve confirmed that many of his other Warner films, including The Prestige (a Disney title here in the US, so this could be their next 4K), Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Inception are soon to be announced for 4K release as well.
What’s more, Nolan’s Interstellar is coming from Paramount, and we have word from a source that the long-awaited Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Director’s Cut may finally be coming in 4K Ultra HD from the studio too, either in time for the holidays this year or early next. Also coming from Paramount are all of Michael Bay’s Transformers films, including Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Transformers: Age of Extinction, all likely tied to the 9/26 release of Transformers: The Last Knight. And as Zaavi now has Ridley Scott’s Gladiator coming to 4K on 12/27, it’s a good bet that Paramount will announce the US release soon too, perhaps with Mel Gibson’s Braveheart.
Given all of the above, we wanted to take a moment today to update our list of known 4K Ultra HD titles in the works for release before the end of 2017 (and into early 2018), some already officially announced and some compiled from our sources’ best-available information. Let us know if we’ve missed one. Please keep in mind that TBA titles and dates are ESTIMATES based on best-available information from sources and are NOT to be considered official until the studios in question make their respective announcements.
[Editor’s Note: Slide on past this list for a bunch of new Blu-ray cover artwork, including South Park: Seasons 1-5, with Amazon pre-orders.]
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
- Boss Baby – 7/25
- Snatched – 8/8
- Prometheus – 8/15
- Alien: Covenant – 8/15
- War for the Planet of the Apes – 10/24
Cinedigm
- Hickock – 8/15
HBO
- Westworld – Season One: The Maze – 11/7
Shout! Factory
- IMAX: Mysteries of China – 12/12
Lionsgate
- The Lincoln Lawyer – 8/15
- Red – 9/5
- Red 2 – 9/5
- The Cabin in the Woods – 9/5
- Conan the Barbarian (2011) – 9/19
- The Legend of Hercules – 9/19
- Kick Ass – 10/3
- Warm Bodies – 10/3
- Terminator 2 – 10/31
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – 11/21
Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment
- Ghost in the Shell – 7/25
- Baywatch – 8/29
- Transformers: The Last Knight – 9/26
- Transformers – TBA
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – TBA
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – TBA
- Transformers: Age of Extinction – TBA
- Gladiator – TBA
- Braveheart – TBA
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Director’s Cut – TBA
- Interstellar – TBA
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- The Fifth Element – 7/11
- Léon: The Professional – 7/11 (Best Buy exclusive)
- Smurfs: The Lost Village – 7/11
- Resident Evil: Vendetta – 7/18
- Rough Night – 9/5
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 40th Anniversary Edition – 9/19
- Starship Troopers: 20th Anniversary Edition – 9/19
- Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars – 9/19
- The Bridge on the River Kwai: 60th Anniversary Edition – 10/3
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula – 10/3
- Baby Driver – 10/10
- Spider-Man: Limited Edition Collection – 10/17 (newly announced)
- The Amazing Spider-Man: Limited Edition Collection – 10/17 (newly announced)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming – 10/17 (newly announced)
- The Emoji Movie – 10/24
- A Few Good Men – 11/7 (Best Buy exclusive – newly announced)
- Men in Black – TBA October
- Men in Black II – TBA October
- Men in Black III – TBA October
- Jumanji – TBA December
- The Dark Tower – TBA
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
- King Kong: Ultimate Edition – 7/11
- The Fate of the Furious – 7/11
- Minions – 9/5
- Despicable Me 3 – TBA 9/5
- Van Helsing – 9/12
- Dracula Untold – 9/12
- Split – 9/12
- Get Out – 9/12
- The Mummy (1999) – 9/12 (single – Trilogy is already available)
- The Mummy Returns – 9/12 (single – Trilogy is already available)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – 9/12 (single – Trilogy is already available)
- The Purge: Three-Movie Collection – 9/12
- The Mummy (2017) – 9/12
- E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial – 9/12
- Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas – 10/17
- Serenity – 10/17
- Apollo 13 – 10/17
- Atomic Blonde – 11/14
- Logan Lucky – TBA
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 – 8/22
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – 10/3
- Cars 3 – 11/7 (newly announced)
- The Prestige – ? TBA
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
- Kong: Skull Island – 7/18
- King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – 8/8
- Batman and Harley Quinn – 8/29
- Blade Runner: The Final Cut – 9/5
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – 9/26
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – 9/26
- A Charlie Brown Christmas – 9/26
- Wonder Woman – 9/19
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – TBA 10/3 (could slip to November)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – TBA 10/3 (could slip to November)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – TBA 10/3 (could slip to November)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – TBA 10/3 (could slip to November)
- Peanuts Holiday Collection – 10/10
- Blade Runner 2049 – TBA
- The Dark Knight Trilogy – TBA (confirmed by director Christopher Nolan)
- Dunkirk – TBA
- Inception – TBA
- Annabelle: Creation – TBA
- Geostorm – TBA
There are unconfirmed reports that Warner is also working on The Polar Express, The Departed, Gravity, and The Matrix. Additional titles I’ve personally seen 4K Ultra HD tests of (in private meetings at CES) include The Godfather and Lawrence of Arabia, but whether they’ve been fully mastered and authored for released yet is unconfirmed.
All right, we’ll leave you with a look at that cover artwork we promised. Click on each image to pre-order the title on Amazon.com, and please remember that doing so really helps us to keep The Bits going, so thank you for supporting us in this way!
That’s it for now. Back on Monday. All you guys in the Southeast US and the Caribbean (etc), please stay safe with this hurricane business. Peace out!
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)