Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

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EddieLarkin
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am

Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1576 Post by EddieLarkin » Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:02 am

I read it that they have more than one release in the bag produced from last year which will release this year (presumably including Tex 3) and that one is in production that we may or may not see this year. But then after that, nada.

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dustybooks
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1577 Post by dustybooks » Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:31 am

It seems bizarre to me that Warners would completely abandon the notion of releasing their animation library on physical media, which seems like easy money, but I have an equally hard time imagining them licensing any of it out to anyone. If what Beck is saying is true, it feels like another sign that classic cartoon scholarship is going to rely increasingly on illegal distribution, and that's a pity because I don't see these films gaining new and passionate audiences in the same way going forward on that basis.

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jazzo
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1578 Post by jazzo » Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:54 am

There go my hopes for DOGFIGHT and LAST SUMMER releases.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1579 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:20 am

I am a bit skeptical about what he’s saying considering that Warner Archive just moved their store to Amazon. Who knows what a piece of crap company like AT&T will do, but I remain skeptical until I see it actually end. I’m still bummed that we never got a follow up to the Porky Pig 101 set. It feels like Warner Archive’s priorities were never animation.

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Drucker
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1580 Post by Drucker » Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:43 am

dustybooks wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:31 am
It seems bizarre to me that Warners would completely abandon the notion of releasing their animation library on physical media, which seems like easy money, but I have an equally hard time imagining them licensing any of it out to anyone. If what Beck is saying is true, it feels like another sign that classic cartoon scholarship is going to rely increasingly on illegal distribution, and that's a pity because I don't see these films gaining new and passionate audiences in the same way going forward on that basis.
It's easy money but it's still a very small amount of money in the grand scheme of things, and therefore not a priority.

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dustybooks
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1581 Post by dustybooks » Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:48 am

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:20 am
I am a bit skeptical about what he’s saying considering that Warner Archive just moved their store to Amazon. Who knows what a piece of crap company like AT&T will do, but I remain skeptical until I see it actually end. I’m still bummed that we never got a follow up to the Porky Pig 101 set. It feels like Warner Archive’s priorities were never animation.
I believe Beck said in the past that the WAC people were never allowed to work on Looney Tunes with the lone exception of that Porky set, because the main Home Video division claimed all of that property for itself. (That said, I do agree he is not the lone authority to listen to on what's happening with the Archive.)

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domino harvey
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1582 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:09 am

The wording is confusing, but I think his overall messaging indicates that WB/WA is moving away from all home video releases, not just for animated releases. Can someone tweet at him to get clarification?

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Drucker
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1583 Post by Drucker » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:22 am

You'd actually need to find Jerry Beck on Facebook. Peng is just screenshotting something he saw on Facebook.

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Ribs
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1584 Post by Ribs » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:33 am

I have some information I have heard on the side that really does not make me think his comments are referring to the wider WB studio and more specifically to the classic animation releases (which is all I would expect him go have insider knowledge of also). I think there’s a bit of a cool thing to be sky is falling about the studio libraries but as even Disney is now putting its own catalog stuff back out as reported in that thread I think it’s not quite as dire as a lot of people cast it.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1585 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:11 pm

The Vulcan Reporter... this was linked on the Home Theater Forum
Warner Bros. plans to shut down its physical media production department. Warner Bros-produced Films and Television series will still be getting Blu-Ray and DVD releases, though these releases will not be produced by Warner Bros themselves.

Additionally, straight-to-video projects at WB will be moved to streaming, making them HBO Max originals. Straight-to-video projects at WB include the home video Scooby-Doo movies and the animated DC movies, the latter of which went through a reboot last year with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.

This move follows last year’s announcement of a pact by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to form a new joint venture that will distribute DVDs in North America for new releases, library titles, and TV content for up to 10 years.

Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob is the most recent straight-to-video Scooby-Doo film, with the next Scooby-Doo film being Scooby-Doo! and Courage the Cowardly Dog which has a vague 2021 release date. The most recent animated DC film is Batman: Soul of the Dragon, with Justice Society: World War II being planned for an April 27 2021 release date.

Furthermore, Warner Archive will still be kept around, for now. The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.’s library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the intention of putting previously unreleased catalog films on DVD for the first time.

While this might be shocking to fans of physical media releases, it is ultimately understandable that a media conglomerate like Warner Bros is planning to move out of the physical media space. This is likely due to the long and slow decline of physical disc sales. Sales of DVDs in the U.S. fell 9.4% in 2019, to $5.9 billion, down from about $9 billion in the U.S. in 2011, according to trade group DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1586 Post by EddieLarkin » Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:45 pm

Reads to me like nothing is changing other than WHV produced stuff will be put out by Universal instead, and WAC will continue as normal. The only stuff that will become streaming exclusive are the straight to video animated projects.

Noiradelic
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1587 Post by Noiradelic » Sat Apr 24, 2021 4:55 am

EddieLarkin wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:45 pm
Reads to me like nothing is changing other than WHV produced stuff will be put out by Universal instead, and WAC will continue as normal. The only stuff that will become streaming exclusive are the straight to video animated projects.
Yes... except, in regards to WAC, the ominous "for now." Not encouraging that a studio with one of the worst track records for disc PQ like Universal's the one in charge of all the physical releases, but as it's still WB's masters, no concrete reason to worry as of yet (speaking as a complete industry outsider).

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1588 Post by FrauBlucher » Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:33 am

These big corporations do everything planned out. They don't do things piece meal. So internally the execs of AT&T/WB have an end date for physical media. So, when they use qualifiers like "for now" they know how long "for now" is. I could see a year from now when the Warner Archive calendar has been cleared that they will dissolve the label.
But the silver lining could be that their vault could open wider to Criterion and other boutiques. Fingers crossed if we get to that end

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1589 Post by EddieLarkin » Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:28 am

Universal has one of the best track records (it's not 2012 anymore), certainly a better batting average than WHV. Paramount are the ones to watch out for these days. And regardless, the move is strictly one of distribution, not production.

Quite frankly all of this is more sky is falling nonsense. Sure enough the article has been updated with a clarification that WB are not shutting down any physical media arms, and RAH posted the following in response to the article:
I was going to remain mute about this fine reporting, but will merely say this: Sometimes one is best reading The Washington Post or New York Times for actual news stories, based on things such as facts. For those seeking info on the latest Elvis appearances, carry on.
And Bill Hunt clarifies what this is actually all about: https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-t ... 42321-1400
there is no intention by either studio to discontinue their disc releases anytime soon
In short, the Vulcan article has simply misinterpreted WB and Uni merging their physical media distribution arms into one entity as the "shutting down" of WB's physical media produciton completely. Total clickbait.

Feel free to quote my post in 2028 when both companies are still releasing catalog titles on disc based media. There will never be an "end date" for physical media as long as an audience exists to buy it.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1590 Post by FrauBlucher » Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:10 pm

Image

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swo17
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1591 Post by swo17 » Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:26 pm

Image

This just in: Disgruntled WB employee resorts to terrorism in escalating cartoon-fueled feud


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hearthesilence
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1593 Post by hearthesilence » Mon May 03, 2021 10:02 pm

Found this old NY Times article about the DGA arbitration around Wolfen. There's a rumor that a four-hour cut exists, but going by this article, it sounds like that's stretching the truth. The four-hour cut sounds more like a work print, complete with numerous placeholders for "missing scenes" that became a point of contention because the producers were under the impression they had been cut from the script prior to production. Anyway, the closest thing to a director's cut is apparently two and a half hours, a solid half hour and change longer than the theatrical version.

I've never seen it before, but I thought it was great. It did feel kind of mangled though, and even the further U.S. home video deletion of Tom Waits's brief appearance made things noticeably worse. It really did feel like material was missing, leaving some plot holes here and there along with an awkward and abrupt conclusion to the first visit to the church. But the film held steady until the climax, which felt really mangled and likely reshot, particular the special effects shots that felt so out-of-place and uncharacteristic, like they were lifted from a script to a different movie. The NY Times article seemed to imply that Wadleigh shot everything he needed, but I dug further and saw the reports that John Hancock shot new "horror"-oriented material scripted by Eric Roth, so maybe I'm guessing right in terms of what was re-done (at least the worst of it).

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Adam X
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1594 Post by Adam X » Tue May 04, 2021 2:25 pm

I recall really liking Wolfen, though I’ve not seen it since the ‘90’s. I’ve been holding off on listening to them until I get around to watching the BD, but these two episodes of The Projection Booth likely contain some more background info:
Episode 437: Wolfen
Special Report: Stewart Buck on ‘Uncovering Wolfen’

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domino harvey
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1595 Post by domino harvey » Tue May 04, 2021 2:34 pm

I enjoyed Wolfen a great deal, especially Albert Finney, who gives what may possibly be the last interesting film variation of one of the most tired character types in the world. But then the film just ends, out of nowhere. So I can easily believe something big is missing. Still works as a great New York City film though

beamish14
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1596 Post by beamish14 » Tue May 04, 2021 3:31 pm

Wolfen's production problems are legendary. John D. Hancock, who was brought in to supervise the reshaping of it, has been candid about it on social media. He says he was handed a 4-hour rough cut that was basically a ton of exposition and no real thrills. The Fun City boutique label guy mentioned on the Blu-Ray forums that WB nixed an audio commentary from director Michael Wadleigh; he probably got a bit too critical of the studio and how they handled the situation.

I'm really curious about that documentary on The Keep the same people have been working on for a while. What a fascinatingly flawed movie.

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PfR73
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1597 Post by PfR73 » Tue May 04, 2021 4:27 pm

Wait, so John D. Hancock, the director fired from Jaws 2, was the the director brought in to supervise Wolfen after they fired the director?

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Cash Flagg
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1598 Post by Cash Flagg » Tue May 04, 2021 5:31 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 3:31 pm
The Fun City boutique label guy mentioned on the Blu-Ray forums that WB nixed an audio commentary from director Michael Wadleigh; he probably got a bit too critical of the studio and how they handled the situation.
The commentary was even listed as an extra when the BD was first announced.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1599 Post by hearthesilence » Tue May 04, 2021 5:37 pm

I just noticed certain Warner Archive DVD-R's are $9.99 on Amazon including a handful of Cagney films I was looking at: A Lion Is in the Streets, The Crowd Roars, The Strawberry Blonde, Boy Meets Girl, The St. Louis Kid, Taxi, These Wilder Years, Jimmy the Gent, Frisco Kid, Doorway to Hell, The Great Garrick (not Cagney, but a great James Whale film nonetheless), and a whole lot more without Cagney. These are definitely marked down as a lot of WA DVD-R titles, even older ones, are still in the $16 to $20+ range.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

#1600 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue May 11, 2021 11:17 am

No official announcement but popping up on Amazon...
3 for June so far...

Ziegfeild Follies
Guns for San Sebastian
There Was a Crooked Man

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