An open invitation to Warner to discuss your catalog titles (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Doris Day is 90 years of age this week. Come on Warners what about an announcement of your intention to release some of her great legacy on blu-ray. I would like Calamity Jane (my wife's favourite) and Love Me or Leave Me (my favourite).

They are definitely my two favorite films of hers, and I'd love to see both of them on Blu-ray (with Calamity Jane hopefully given its rightful aspect ratio in its transfer). And if they want to do a box set, they can include The Pajama Game and On Moonlight Bay, too.

 

[Towergrove]

I think there are still just as many fans now for classics as there were in DVD heyday but I also think its impossible to expect everyone to repurchase everything each time a new format comes out. Most people will not repurchase titles over and over again. It was mentioned that TT has runs of 3000 which seem very little but I must ask, have these films been released in a purchase to own format before? Also, I'm a big physical media purchaser but I recently decided to buy the Ultraviolet version of As Good As It Gets as well as Oliver! Both in HDX on Vudu, why? Because with the disc to digital upgrade I now have a high def copy that looks fantastic on my 160" projector. I bypassed TT and it was much cheaper in doing so.Many collectors do not like digital downloaded electronic sell thru but we should get acquainted with the process cause I believe that is where the collector market is heading. Many will say they will never buy a digital download but there is an audience that will.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Through the Warner Archive and other MOD programmes there are now few films that I want which are unavailable on DVD or blu-ray disc. My aim now is to upgrade my favourite films to blu-ray for the best possible image quality. For me part of the viewing experience is to select a disc to play and I am sure I will have no need for downloading or streaming unless this is the only way future films will be distributed.

 

[Paul_Warren]

To be fair WB do a great job on catalog titles compared to other major studios but they are also missing the boat here as so many movies get recorded by people watching HD streams somewhere in the world then upload those to share with others which means Hollywood is not getting any revenue.

You Tube is full of such content......

So why not HD transfer these movies make the M.O.D if you have to but I am sure there is a healthy market for classics on BD especially as people are living longer so catalog demand can only increase!

It seems to me Hollywood just does not fully understand there is still a healthly global catalog market for HD content they take all these steps to content protect with AACS, Macrovision, Cinavia, BD Live 2.0, Region Codes etc etc but do not address part of the problem by making the content available so people can actually buy it legit there are very well known big name websites selling bootleg DVD-R's of OOP titles quite openly!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Paul, I think unfortunately, some rights owners have the attitude of, "We'd rather make nothing than take a risk, or we'd rather not put out a release than put out one that only barely breaks even."

In other cases, there may be rights issues that prevents the films from being released region-free. If Company A owns the release in one territory, and company B owns the release rights in another territory, Company A may be restrained in its ability to put out a region-free edition, even if Company B has no desire to do a release for the area that it has the rights in.

I think some studios are really making good faith efforts to get releases out as best they can, and operate under the idea that it's better to have 50% of something rather than 100% of nothing. But not everyone feels that way.

It does seem like more and more titles are being made available in HD via digital distribution that otherwise aren't getting released. Whether it's Netflix or Amazon Prime, Vudu or any other service, I've rented titles online that streamed in pretty decent looking (and in some cases, great looking) HD that may never get disc releases. It stinks when it's one of your favorites and you can't get a hard copy, but that does seem to be the way things are going. I'm startng to feel like I just have to accept that and go with it, otherwise I'll never get to see certain titles in HD.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I think streaming and illegal file sharing are the way it is going which will replicate the music business. Many younger consumers in particular don't want to pay for content. I think there are at most 5 years left for disc based product.

 

[Robin9]

It was mentioned that TT has runs of 3000 which seem very little but I must ask, have these films been released in a purchase to own format before?

Some films released on Blu-ray By Twilight Time were new to disc but most were previously issued on DVD.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

When so much HD product is available only via Streaming, and when so much of the global market is locked out from sharing in that product (here in Australia there seems no HD download product is offered at all), is there any wonder that people have to resort to illegal downloading?
I will always seek to buy legitimate product -- I love physical blu rays -- but it's really frustrating to see how much HD product is now available ... but only in the States!

 

[Brandon Conway]

It's interesting to note that the three recently announced titles for August (The Man Who Knew Too Little (1998), The Avengers (1998), and Rush Hour 2 (2001)) were all new release DVDs back in 1998 & 2001, respectively. Between these releases and the Warner Archive releases of Deathtrap (1982), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and Fearless (1993) - all of which only had early DVD-era releases in 1999 - it seems like Warner is putting focus on titles released in that era that are in need of re-issues after two "generation" cycles (usually defined as 7 years).

Both Get Carter films fit the pattern, too, having got their DVDs in 2000.

 

[cineMANIAC]

Many younger consumers in particular don't want to pay for content.

But they have no problem spending money on smokes, booze, drugs and a few hours of "good times". And this is the market studios are catering to? They should be catering to people who actually love films since we're the ones spending the money.

 

[bruceames]

Well they have to cater to both because, while the young don't have as much disposable income to collect movies, they are the demographic that attends the most at the theaters.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Any chance The Narrow Margin (1952) will be released on blu-ray soon?