Has Paramount quit releasing classic films to SD DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Borges]

Great!

Is it me, or has it been a really quiet year from Paramount?

 

[Thomas T]

Outside of the Wayne/Batjac catalogue, it has been disturbingly quiet on the Paramount front.

 

[Jeff Newcomb]

Outside of the Wayne/Batjac catalogue, it has been disturbingly quiet on the Paramount front.

I think this is because all of the Republic releases they had scheduled have been cancelled for some reason. They made up a large portion of Paramount's catalog output for this year. I don't know what happened to them, but I'm sure that Paramount is taking a financial hit because of it.

 

[Dick]

I think this is because all of the Republic releases they had scheduled have been cancelled for some reason. They made up a large portion of Paramount's catalog output for this year. I don't know what happened to them, but I'm sure that Paramount is taking a financial hit because of it.

Perhaps they could offset their loss by releasing the many long-requested catalog titles from their own company we have been begging for for years. You know the ones. And so do they.

 

[David (C)]

I hope they stay with the (first) cover-art. For a film over 3 hours, why only a 2 Disc Set?

 

[JPCinema]

I recently met A Paramount Home Video executive recently on a flight from LA to Chicago. I asked her what happened to the great catalog classic titles and she said that they are more interested in TV and films and special editions of classic films like "Grease" and "Heaven Can Wait". She said that they have only 11 catalogs titles for 2007.
I asked about the Republic titles and she said that Paramount found out that they did not have the rights to their film library: only the Republic TV library.
She said that Lions Gate would eventually release the theatrical titles from Republic.
I asked about "Love With the Proper Stranger" Samson and Delilah" "Ace in the Hole", "Summer and Smoke" and she said that "used" to be on their release list. She did say she thought "The Conformist" might be coming soon.
She was very excited about REDS and it would be released in HD simultaneously. I mentiooned that DAYS OF HEAVEN would be a great HD title. her response was that they had more important flms to release in HD like AEON FLUX.
I suggested doing something like Warners DVD decision...and she thought that would be a great idea because they really don't know what the public wants.
It was a very disappointing conversation for me and was the last nail in the coffin for Paramount releasing older classic films. Very sad!

 

[Paul Borges]

I think I'm gonna cry that Paramount won't be releasing Republic film titles!

 

[Bruce Morrison]

That has to be one of the most depressing pieces of DVD news from a major studio I've ever heard. Paramount have really gone downhill in the past two years. For a long time, they were one of the best studios for releasing back catalogue titles - now they seem to be firmly at the bottom of the heap. Do they really believe that releasing movies such as 'Ace In The Hole' and 'Love With The Proper Stranger' would lose money for them?

We can only hope that an eventual change of management might turn things around again.

 

[Bradley-E]

That is upsetting. I used to defend them because they were releasing the catalogue titles with nice Anamorphic transfers at a good price. There are so many they still need to release and at this point will probably not. Are the studios losing interest in DVD and waiting to save titles for BluRay or HI DEF? It seems that other than Warner and Fox everyone else is doing re-issues only.

 

[Thomas T]

I don't think Paramount's disinterest in their film catalogue has anything to do with high definition formats. If they don't think Love With The Proper Stranger or Summer And Smoke will sell on standard DVD, why would they think it would sell on HD? Anyway, the money is in standard DVD where they would sell more units. HD is (and will continue to be) a niche market for years to come.
Warners and Fox are the only interesting studios out there now in the DVD world. Disney has pretty well exhausted its catalogue, Sony and Paramount seem to be ignoring theirs and Universal is spotty but still hanging in there.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is very disturbing news. Paramount has become a big disappointment in not only SD DVD, but have not done a thing in HD DVD yet.

Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Crawford]

Looking over some films still left in Paramount's vault, if it's true that they no longer have the rights to Republic films then the list of films isn't long, but there are some important films that need to be released on dvd. There might be some errors in the following list of Paramount unreleased titles, therefore, point them out and I'll delete them off. Also, let me know of any that are missing.

 

[Danny Burk]

Robert, the Harold Lloyd silents aren't owned by Paramount; all were released in the large HL set from New Line last year.

The following are owned by Universal; those with * have been released:

Design for Living *

Five Graves to Cairo

A Foreign Affair (* on R2; I don't think it's out on R1)

If I Were King

The Major and the Minor

The Uninvited

The DeMille version of the Buccaneer (1938) is still owned by Paramount and should be on the list.

There are loads of important silents that will probably never be seen, but I'll add two that were previously released on VHS (and which are very important titles):

DOCKS OF NEW YORK

THE WEDDING MARCH

 

[seanOhara]

Paramount really needs to put whoever's behind the Batjac DVDs in charge of their catalog titles. Anyone who can come up with extras for an obscure B-movie like Plunder of the Sun could do a brilliant job on The African Queen.
Unfortunately, I suspect the Batjac people are responsible for the material on those releases, not Paramount employees.

 

[JerryKILL]

Released...

The Adventurers (1970)

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)

Bug (1975)

Cheerleader Camp (1987) (Anchor Bay)

Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972)

Nate and Hayes (1983)

 

[Qui-Gon John]

What about THE KEEP? It was supposed to come out a couple years ago, then go postponed.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Robert, thanks for the list. Pretty depressing to see some of those titles languishing. ( Will we ever see The Naked Prey on DVD? :frowning: )
Corrections:
The Thing Called Love (1993) had a director's cut released earlier this year.
Please add Anthony Mann's Strategic Air Command (1955) to the list.
- Walter.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Also been hoping fpr an anamorphic DAYS OF THUNDER!

 

[Walter Kittel]

BTW, here is another somewhat dated list that contains some additional unreleaed Paramount titles (there is some overlap between the list in this thread and the one referenced in this post.) Some of the titles on this list have subsequently been released. Unreleased Paramount Titles
Examples of unreleased titles found on this list include:
No Man of Her Own (1950)
Gunn (1967)
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990)
- Walter.

 

[Jim_K]

This is really depressing news.
I'm speechless.
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and The Skull (1965) should be added to the list. Two more films that I'll probably never be able to see.
A ? should be added to The Fall of the Roman Empire. I always thought that the Bronston Epics were controlled by Buena Vista. Not that it matters much as neither company seems interested in releasing it.