Indications of Incoming Indicator Entertainments

[rapta]

Though I have a feeling that the US will get only those titles that are licensed outside of the existing major studio deals (such as the last announced slate).

I was half right. The US and the UK haven’t gotten anything from Universal or Sony since Indicator went dual-territory. Hopefully this changes soon.

Perhaps because they went Stateside is exactly the reason why we’ve yet to have any studio titles announced so far in 2022 - because they’re still negotiating rights as well as figuring out the schedule so that they can adequately address the US consumers each month with at least a couple of titles. They might be able to release some studio titles, but others will be taken. Similar situation to Arrow and 88 Films I imagine, or Criterion negotiating the UK market.

[MichaelB]

Indicator co-founders Sam Dunn and John Morrissey are the guests on the latest edition (#35) of the Chasing Labels podcast.

[swo17]

Listening to this podcast, they mention that the current docket doesn't include any UK-only releases but does actually have some US-only ones

[MichaelB]

There will be UK-only ones, a legacy of licenses taken out before the decision to start releasing in the US. I seem to recall them at least raising the latter issue, if not explicitly spelling out what it means.

But in many cases, such as the already teased Putney Swope, there’s already a superb US edition from the same master. Similarly, the upcoming US-only editions that I’m aware of also have excellent existing UK ones - for instance, there’s a repackaged BFI Flipside release that’s coming out in the next few months.

I’m not going to tempt fate and say that this will invariably be the case every single time, but it’s certainly true of a fair number of titles on my current to-do list.

[What A Disgrace]

Still eagerly waiting on Thunderbolt, as far as UK only ones goes. I hopet the Flipside release will be Sleepwalker, because I keep recommending it to some of my friends, but they don't want to invest in a British release even if it is region free, unless, it seems, its an Indicator release.

[rapta]

The sale-exclusive postcard set (offered to anyone ordering over £50 during the sale) seems to show a poster for Budd Boetticher's Bullfighter and the Lady, which also confirms a Paramount deal (which is interesting, as it may open things up in terms of studio titles). And if my information is correct, that title may be appearing sooner rather than later as far as announcements go...

Would be even cooler if it turns out to be a special set with Boetticher's Arruza which is with StudioCanal, as they're thematically linked. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

[Glowingwabbit]

Budd Boetticher's Bullfighter and the Lady

That's exciting. I've always considered that one to be an underrated gem of his.

[rapta]

Also the poster in front of it is Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge (which I had known about before).

Anyone else spot any other familiar posters? I'm guessing one or two of the others are Universal, Columbia or Paramount titles. I scanned through some of the Paramount ones on Hollywood Classics but couldn't spot a match (would take forever obviously, so probably just worth waiting for the postcards).

[ChunkyLover]

The postcards are confirmed to be "Pastor Hall", "Dracula", "Bullfighter and the Lady", "The Swimmer", "The Big Gundown" & "Carnal Knowledge".

[domino harvey]

Carnal Knowledge is great news, especially since Criterion has been sitting on it for years

[hearthesilence]

@MichaelB, you guys probably checked already but let me suggest including the post-screening discussion at Lincoln Center with Jason Reitman and Mike Nichols. It's a little too "you're beautiful! No, you're beautiful!" in spots, but any talk with Mike Nichols is worth seeing and there's a hilarious moment where he compares NYC to another city that shall remain nameless. FWIW, I was there, and even though it was a public event, it was kind of a surprise to see Noah Baumbach, Lena Dunham (after Tiny Furniture but before Girls was even announced) and other younger NY filmmakers stream in and sit right in front of me. It says something that they all came out to see Nichols and specifically that film. I can't say it's a favorite, but it probably means a lot to quite a few people.

[dwk]

The sale-exclusive postcard set (offered to anyone ordering over £50 during the sale) seems to show a poster for Budd Boetticher's Bullfighter and the Lady, which also confirms a Paramount deal (which is interesting, as it may open things up in terms of studio titles). And if my information is correct, that title may be appearing sooner rather than later as far as announcements go...

That is a part of the Republic Pictures catalog, which Paramount has always been willing to license out. We have to wait and see if any Paramount titles were licensed to Indicator.

[rapta]

The postcards are confirmed to be "Pastor Hall", "Dracula", "Bullfighter and the Lady", "The Swimmer", "The Big Gundown" & "Carnal Knowledge".

Very nice. One I've preordered already (Pastor Hall), two we already knew were on their way (Dracula, The Swimmer), one confirmed to me last Summer but asked to keep secret 'til this postcard appeared (Carnal Knowledge), and two new surprises (Bullfighter and the Lady, The Big Gundown).

Really happy with that last one as I had been requesting it since Indicator started, and Lee Van Cleef is my favourite Spaghetti Western actor (probably my favourite 'cult genre' actor overall in fact). Was really happy when Eureka announced the Sabata trilogy (as well as The Great Silence, and before that, A Fistful of Dynamite) and this is a similarly great announcement. A day one pre-order from me whenever it shows up!

PS: Interesting that lots of Sollima titles are suddenly coming to UK Blu-ray through different labels this year - 88 Films with Violent City, Eureka with Revolver (and one more I know is coming soon...) and now this!

The sale-exclusive postcard set (offered to anyone ordering over £50 during the sale) seems to show a poster for Budd Boetticher's Bullfighter and the Lady, which also confirms a Paramount deal (which is interesting, as it may open things up in terms of studio titles). And if my information is correct, that title may be appearing sooner rather than later as far as announcements go...

That is a part of the Republic Pictures catalog, which Paramount has always been willing to license out. We have to wait and see if any Paramount titles were licensed to Indicator.

That's true, I did notice that. It's probably licensed through Hollywood Classics, so there shouldn't be a distinction whether a title be Republic or Paramount or not - note that Eureka licensed a mixture recently (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Prophecy, Johnny Guitar, Champion, The Sun Shines Bright) as did BFI (Targets, The Pawnbroker, One of Our Aircraft is Missing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Men).

Sure, they seem more likely to license Republic/Melange titles, but then again you'd think MoC would've done Welles' Macbeth by now so there doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to their selection process. There are several titles that Olive released in the US before that I'm surprised we haven't seen UK releases of yet, such as Letter from an Unknown Woman, Caught, Pursued, China Gate, The Slender Thread, Run for Cover etc. Perhaps these will be the kinds of things Indicator have gone for?

Still, would be amazing to see Indicator editions of things like Days of Heaven, The Parallax View, Bad Company, The Duellists, Black Sunday, Hard Eight, Breakdown, Child's Play, Ordinary People, The Gambler, Heaven Can Wait...I guess one can dream.

[Roscoe]

The postcards are confirmed to be "Pastor Hall", "Dracula", "Bullfighter and the Lady", "The Swimmer", "The Big Gundown" & "Carnal Knowledge".

Forgive if noted above -- which DRACULA is the postcard confirmed for?

[MichaelB]

1979, Frank Langella/John Badham.

[beamish14]

1979, Frank Langella/John Badham.

So glad I never bought Shout Factory’s disc! You guys are gonna knock this one out of the park.

I’m ecstatic about finally getting Carnal Knowledge, too. Jules Feiffer is an American treasure, and I hope we get an interview/commentary with him.

[M Sanderson]

What is the status of Arruza?

Was the film ever completed?

Can it even be released over here with genuine bullfighting footage?

Have any attempts been made to provide a Blu ray restoration?

[rapta]

What is the status of Arruza?

Was the film ever completed?

Can it even be released over here with genuine bullfighting footage?

Have any attempts been made to provide a Blu ray restoration?

Funnily enough, I was told by Indicator that they had another Boetticher lined up for release soon, and my immediate assumption was Arruza as the rights are with StudioCanal (and it seemed obscure enough for Indicator to be interested). But since then, they've obviously teased Bullfighter and the Lady, so I'm guessing that's the title they were referring to - unless they could somehow release Arruza as an extra or bonus disc, which would obviously be even better!

I'm sure we'll find out soon. It would certainly make sense to pair them together, given the common subject matter, but Indicator don't often do a double-bill (but like I say, have done a few bonus discs in the past). Like you say though, would entirely depend on quality of the master/materials, and Indicator could do their own in-house restoration as they have done for a few StudioCanal titles lately (Hoffmann, Roadgames, I Monster).

[black&huge]

The Big Gundown? i have grindhouse's release but I am excited to see how this edition will turn out. Will prob dub dip

[Finch]

Today's newsletter clue

[rapta]

It's for Naked Alibi again, which they have already teased ages ago. I wonder if it'll be a one-off title or part of a Universal Noir box set? Seems unclear at this point.

[M Sanderson]

So what could the future Boetticher be, that Indicator are working on? Not the documentary that accompanies the Bullfighter & the Lady release?

The mythical Arruza?

Is there another fascinating, restoration worthy curio akin to Time for Dying?

Could it be another film noir?

Or a Rock Hudson Western like Seminole or Horizons West?

Or, rights permitting, 7 Men from Now or Rise & Fall of Legs Diamond, which have previously been believed unavailable to Indicator?

[Finch]

My guess would be The Killer Is Loose.

[ryannichols7]

I do really hope we see Universal Noir come next, while a series of Westerns from whichever studio would be my dream, there hasn't been any hints pointing to anything of the sort just yet. I can see this happening on the other hand, as there's been enough murmurs/teases of such a series, one can only hope.

I posted about this in the Indicator Facebook group but I will here as well, as I'm sure many agree with the sentiment: I'm very much in favor of Indicator effectively serving as the BFI's US arm and bringing some of the more obscure (outside of the UK of course) British titles stateside. now that we're seeing Indicator in brick and mortar stores over here, as well as a pretty good presence with the online community and being sold on our bigger retailers over here, I think this is a great way to bring exposure to a lot of these movies. while yes, region free releases of many movies may always be available, US buyers may be less inclined to seek out something not released over here (and vice versa, I'm sure), so this arrangement makes things a lot better. I will note that Indicator is the first transatlantic label which has spine numbers that has done an exclusive in the territory they entered second, which seems to have caused spine number chaos. I can only imagine the meltdowns if Criterion released a UK exclusive and that spine number was only available over there..

anyway, it was cool with this round of announcements to see two long rumored titles (Mad Housewife and Putney Swope) see fruition. and a very fast turnaround on the Boetticher title. hopefully we see more of these rumored ones come quickly. I'm guessing the Swimmer got pushed for a month or so

[rapta]

So what could the future Boetticher be, that Indicator are working on? Not the documentary that accompanies the Bullfighter & the Lady release?

The mythical Arruza?

Is there another fascinating, restoration worthy curio akin to Time for Dying?

Could it be another film noir?

Or a Rock Hudson Western like Seminole or Horizons West?

Or, rights permitting, 7 Men from Now or Rise & Fall of Legs Diamond, which have previously been believed unavailable to Indicator?

As I said above, the Boetticher film they mentioned turned out to be Bullfight and the Lady (rather than Arruza, as I had assumed was the case).

But there's still a chance they could do some of his Westerns for Universal (The Cimarron Kid, Bronco Buster, Horizons West, Seminole, The Man from the Alamo, Wings of the Hawk), or maybe some of his adventure/war films for Universal (Red Ball Express, City Beneath the Sea, East of Sumatra).

My guess would be The Killer Is Loose.

Probably not from Indicator, they've never had a deal with MGM and apparently never plan to.

I do really hope we see Universal Noir come next, while a series of Westerns from whichever studio would be my dream, there hasn't been any hints pointing to anything of the sort just yet. I can see this happening on the other hand, as there's been enough murmurs/teases of such a series, one can only hope.

I posted about this in the Indicator Facebook group but I will here as well, as I'm sure many agree with the sentiment: I'm very much in favor of Indicator effectively serving as the BFI's US arm and bringing some of the more obscure (outside of the UK of course) British titles stateside. now that we're seeing Indicator in brick and mortar stores over here, as well as a pretty good presence with the online community and being sold on our bigger retailers over here, I think this is a great way to bring exposure to a lot of these movies. while yes, region free releases of many movies may always be available, US buyers may be less inclined to seek out something not released over here (and vice versa, I'm sure), so this arrangement makes things a lot better. I will note that Indicator is the first transatlantic label which has spine numbers that has done an exclusive in the territory they entered second, which seems to have caused spine number chaos. I can only imagine the meltdowns if Criterion released a UK exclusive and that spine number was only available over there..

anyway, it was cool with this round of announcements to see two long rumored titles (Mad Housewife and Putney Swope) see fruition. and a very fast turnaround on the Boetticher title. hopefully we see more of these rumored ones come quickly. I'm guessing the Swimmer got pushed for a month or so

I've posted before that it's entirely possible Indicator could look at the Columbia Noir successes and consider doing a Columbia Westerns set (there are at least enough for two volumes, should they wish to do more than one). There are a handful that would stand alone but like with the noir sets it'd be nice to get some lesser-seen ones mixed in these sets and make a bigger deal out of the genre.

PS: I was told The Swimmer was set for July, so they must've changed their minds and put it back for whatever reason. Perhaps it'll be announced for August/September instead now? Who knows.