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MGM's problems holding up other film releases on Blu-Ray?

post #1 of 23
2/22/10 at 10:40am
Thread Starter 
I was thinking about the James Bond thread concerning the problems MGM is having now and the delay in the releases of the rest of the Bond films on BD.

So it occurred to me, are there more films that are not coming to BD because of MGM's problems? Not sure this is a worthy thread, but there are a few films I am curious about.

I don't know who actually owns the distribution rights for these films, but I'll start with these titles:

1. The Great Escape. This has come out on SE DVD, but will it come out on BD? It's a popular film and has been released several times in the past and from Criterion too.

2. Ronin. This came out on BD, but I know some were disappointed it wasn't a great release, no extras.

3. Thomas Crown Affair. Original and remake. Maybe this film is not so popular. But if the Brosnan sequel to his 1999 version comes out, maybe there will be renewed interest.

I'm sure there are many other classics, does MGM's issues affect more films?.
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post #2 of 23
2/22/10 at 11:20am
I've been wanting a Fiddler on the Roof release myself... along with more films like Blow Out and Dressed to Kill. Also a BD of the 1978 version of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS would be greatly appreciated.
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post #3 of 23
2/22/10 at 11:45am
The United Artists Films are controlled by MGM so none of them will come out until MGM is purchased.

Jack, the last DVD version of "Fiddler on the Roof" looks great on High Def TV, don't know how much better it would look on Blu-ray (unlike other DVD titles which don't look too good on HD TV)
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post #4 of 23
2/22/10 at 12:28pm
Thread Starter 
The 1978 Body Snatchers is a good one, the original 1956 version would be most wanted to get! But that was Allied Artists, so I wouldn't know who owns the rights now.

Dressed to Kill is another great one.
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post #5 of 23
2/22/10 at 12:42pm
Fox still controls the MGM library, at least until sometime this year, I believe - maybe we should direct all inquiries and requests to Fox, although the studios' track record when it comes to consumer requests isn't very good. I've been an advocate for a better release for Runaway Train for at least five years but I know I'm not gonna see anything for several years
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post #6 of 23
2/22/10 at 12:56pm
The remake of The Thomas Crown Affair has been announced, so MGM is still releasing at least a few titles.
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post #7 of 23
2/22/10 at 1:05pm
Yeah, but that was a title previously announced and then delayed.
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post #8 of 23
2/22/10 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 
 Interesting posts about Thomas Crown, I didn't know that, so I looked it up. Amazon shows the 1999 The Thomas Crown Affair remake coming to blu-ray April 6, 2010. Hopefully it will have the McTiernan commentary.
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post #9 of 23
2/22/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luisito34 View Post

Fox still controls the MGM library, at least until sometime this year, I believe - maybe we should direct all inquiries and requests to Fox, although the studios' track record when it comes to consumer requests isn't very good. I've been an advocate for a better release for Runaway Train for at least five years but I know I'm not gonna see anything for several years

My understanding is that MGM controls the titles and decides what gets released. Fox just has distribution rights.

Doug

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post #10 of 23
2/22/10 at 3:50pm
Doug is correct. Fox is merely the distributor.
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post #11 of 23
2/23/10 at 7:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson Au View Post

The 1978 Body Snatchers is a good one, the original 1956 version would be most wanted to get! But that was Allied Artists, so I wouldn't know who owns the rights now.

Dressed to Kill is another great one.
Paramount currently owns the rights to the original since I purchased it from iTunes and it had a Paramount logo at the end. By the way the iTunes version is actually slightly remastered compared with the previous DVD's (blacks are more deeper and clarity is better but of course the bit rate is really low since its iTunes SD).
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post #12 of 23
2/23/10 at 7:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway View Post

Doug is correct. Fox is merely the distributor.
 


Does this mean Fox can plaster the discs with their own logos and trailers? What about the double features with MGM and Fox titles mixed together? No, I think Fox's role here is somewhat larger than mere distributor. MGM may make some of the decisions (assuming they still have an active home video department) but Fox seems to be calling the shots.
Edited by elDomenechHTF - 2/23/10 at 7:44am
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post #13 of 23
2/23/10 at 12:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luisito34 View Post





Does this mean Fox can plaster the discs with their own logos and trailers? What about the double features with MGM and Fox titles mixed together? No, I think Fox's role here is somewhat larger than mere distributor. MGM may make some of the decisions (assuming they still have an active home video department) but Fox seems to be calling the shots.

Fox handles the distribution and marketing for the MGM product.  It is up to MGM what and when it is released.  MGM is smart enough to realize the benefit of the double features with Fox since they are not new releases, but just re-pressed from existing transfers.  Until MGM gets their finances straightened out, new catalog titles will be nil.  They actually do not have the money to do so.
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post #14 of 23
2/23/10 at 4:24pm

Yeah it looks like MGM is actually at a stand still right now. They only had one theatrical release last year, and they can't afford to make payments on their debt.  There was some talk that News Corp was going to bail them out, but I have my doubts about that happening. As far at the Bond films go, I suspect that they will revert to Sony in exchange for forgiving some of their debt.

Doug

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post #15 of 23
2/24/10 at 8:06am
I don't know if anyone has seen this story about all the financial problems with MGM and the deals they have.

Here is another story by the same author of how they got in the mess they are in today.
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post #16 of 23
2/24/10 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 
 Thanks Jon. Seems that same article was posted on a Bond site. I had not read the whole thing till today and it was a pretty clear article. Some of the moneys MGM got to keep them afloat was from Wall Street investors in 2004 using Hedge Funds to invest in MGM. 

Amazing MGM bet their future in 2004 that they would have a significant revenue stream thinking that home video would convert from DVD to blu ray. They forecasted that the sales from DVD's and Blu ray would be this large sum of revenue that would earn enough to pay off the creditors. And they hadn't thought that the Hedge Funds would go south!

Amazing how the article has said that a large number of DVD sales had plummeted due to price erosion from places like Walmart that put many titles in bargain bins! Not just for MGM, but everyone else too I'm sure.

It sounds pretty dire now.
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post #17 of 23
2/24/10 at 11:47am
Anyone remember the days when large companies didn't owe millions, ten of millions, billions. Even a so called healthy company these days is millions in debt, & they all seem to be looking at a huge pension black hole. What happened?
Edited by Billy Batson - 2/26/10 at 9:34am
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post #18 of 23
2/25/10 at 5:48am

Well to be fair MGM hasn't been on really solid ground since the late 1950's. The company has been in and out of bankruptcy several times. I remember when Stargate was their first major film to be released after having to shut down production in the early 90s. Stargate supposedly put MGM back on the map, but they have never been able to convert that in to a consistently successful studio. The studio has had 5 or 6 different owners in the last 15 years.

Doug

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post #19 of 23
2/25/10 at 6:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeBond View Post



Paramount currently owns the rights to the original since I purchased it from iTunes and it had a Paramount logo at the end. By the way the iTunes version is actually slightly remastered compared with the previous DVD's (blacks are more deeper and clarity is better but of course the bit rate is really low since its iTunes SD).

 
Interesting.  This is title I'd love to have on BD, assuming they do a good job with it, and present it in both 4:3 and WS versions.  Was the iTunes version 4:3 or WS?
Thanks,
Doug
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post #20 of 23
2/26/10 at 7:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Billy Batson View Post

Anyone remember the days when large companies didn't owe millions, ten of millions, billions. Even a so called healthy company these days is millions in dept, & they all seem to be looking at a huge pension black hole. What happened?
The mania for mergers and acquisitions mainly, fueled by speculation and low interest rates.  Leveraging was the thing to do. Acquire, acquire, acquire.  Problem is, you get highly leveraged, a recession hits, and you are totally screwed because the cash flow has disappeared.  It happens over and over.  No one ever learns.

And as to the huge pension black hole, well, the rank and file employees always come last in the pecking order, especially when the executives can give themselves multimillion dollar bonuses and no one can do  a blessed thing about it.
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post #21 of 23
2/26/10 at 9:13am
Thread Starter 
You've got to give Apple Computer a lot of credit. They've just announced yesterday or day before to the stockholders that they have multi-millions sitting in the bank right now. And Jobs said they intend to save the money for any rainy days ahead. Of course the pundits thought Steve Jobs should have given some dividends.
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post #22 of 23
3/8/10 at 8:36pm
 Shame, with all their financial issues it looks like it's a miracle that MGM has released ANY blu-ray titles so far. I was so hoping for blu-ray releases of Dressed to Kill and Blow Out.
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post #23 of 23
3/9/10 at 1:42pm
its a shame that this isn't still resolved, i know as a fan of catalog titles, that is basically what we get from MGM,  amazing how one the studio with more stars than the heavens would be reduced to not even a shell of its former self. the bulk of it great catalog turning a profit at WB, and the financial woes are still holding up classics, 

Some like it Hot
Fiddler on the Roof
Mad Max
The Apartment 
Magnificent Seven
Great Escape
Greatest Story Ever Told
Fist Full Of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
Duck you Sucker ( Fist Full Of Dynamite)
lots of Woody Allen
i wonder if MGM had their own authoring facility, instead of having to go thru FOX, if things would be different, don't get me wrong , i see the bargin bin price that most of these go for at walmart and jump, cant beat the price,  i hope something is worked out and the company will still exist, more than just in name. as the documentary says When the lion roars!



1956 Version of Body Snatchers, if i remember correctly, the holding were picked up by Republic, which in turn became Spelling, which became Paramount , who licensed the republic library to Loinsgate, so until that mess is cleaned up, and everything comes back i don't think we will see that soon, but now that paramount has this new deal with Olive Films, to distribute some of there titles, maybe something can come of that, i know its on my list of wanted as well
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