Did Paramount quit the catalog releasing business?

"Did Paramount quit the catalog releasing business?"

Yes.

No, it did have THE AFRICAN QUEEN last year, 48 HRS last month, and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS due at the end of this month. But, yes, that's not much to go on; they've farmed a few titles out through other distributors like Olive but nothing on Blu. 

WHITE CHRISTMAS

It would be nice to see them release some classics on Blu, but they really gave up on their library titles back in the SDVD days, so...

French BD news from another forum, which may be great news for the rest of us:

At last the title [Once Upon A Time In The West] has been announced by Paramount for June 2011 !!
You can find this information through an interview made by the French magazine "Les Années Laser" (March 2011, p.18) with the director of marketing from Paramount France.
The article also mentions the release of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for September 2011.

Please let this be stateside too!!  If I could get "Once Upon A Time in the West" on Blu, I will be a happy man and never ever complain again!!!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson 

French BD news from another forum, which may be great news for the rest of us:

 

At last the title [Once Upon A Time In The West] has been announced by Paramount for June 2011 !!
You can find this information through an interview made by the French magazine "Les Années Laser" (March 2011, p.18) with the director of marketing from Paramount France.
The article also mentions the release of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for September 2011.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Peterson 

Please let this be stateside too!!  If I could get "Once Upon A Time in the West" on Blu, I will be a happy man and never ever complain again!!!
 

 

Please let this be stateside as well, but i am not going to say that i will never complain again!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanboyZ 

They should sell their entire library to Lionsgate, thats the cool thing to do.

Because Loinsgate has done such a fine job of going in and releasing catalog titles, oh no wait where is Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or nay of the John Wayne Republic Westerns, Hum, maybe The Quiet Man, nope, not yet, i know maybe something from the Artisan catalog that isn't Rambo or Terminator, still waiting, you might want to rethink that statement.

Dana-no one could have said it better.  I always cringe whenever I hear that Lionsgate or Paramount has acquired a library of films.  Fox is the next one that hate to see get a hold of anything.

Allen,

 thanks for the back-up on that, I don’t mean to say that someone is wrong, but the thing is that Paramount has an outstanding Restoration team, just look at African Queen, and they at one time had a great website, covering what was going on, it's been a few years so I don’t know if it still exist; but people also need to take into consideration that they are also releasing the DreamWorks titles as well.

Fox on the other hand does turn out quality product consistently, and I might say that they are doing it for TWO companies, themselves and MGM which last until September at that point Sony will be taking over the distribution of MGM titles, Sony has great releases but haven’t really gone deep into the classics yet, but the rumors of Navarone, has me hyped, that more is on the way.

  The problem I have with Lionsgate is that they made the deal with Paramount for a large chunk of back catalog, (Republic Titles which by the way celebrated it’s 75^th in 2010, any classics release in honor, well we are still waiting) and now they have deals with Miramax and Studio Canal, at this point I would be expecting them to start releasing catalog titles to at a minimum match WB.  

High Noon, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Quiet Man held hostage !

My Avatar speaks volumes, i am an animation fan, big time and part of the deal the have had is Betty Boop, has there ever been an official studio release, George Pal's Puppet Toons, nope, i would be happy just to see that on DVD correctly, hopefully one day someone who actually knows and understands what they have instead, of a lawyer in the business of entertainment, looks at the history and prestige instead of just the bottom line. Then classic fans will have a day to be really happy. 

when it comes to Blu-ray I prefer a studio to restore the film and put out a great blu-ray .....unlike some that slap a HD TV transfer on to blu to make a quicl buck (MGM/UA???)

But Paramount really needs to move their ass on catalog

Quote:

Originally Posted by dana martin 

...High Noon, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Quiet Man held hostage !...

 

The problem with The Quiet Man is that I don't think Paramount ever actually had that one for some strange reason.  All the other Republic Pictures, yes, but The Quiet Man was left out of that group Paramount got several years back and stayed with Artisan.  That was something that we didn't find out about until later.

Meanwhile, on DVD, it just keeps getting reissued with the same VHS transfer from the 40th Anniversary Edition done back in '92.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joel Fontenot 

 

 

 

The problem with The Quiet Man is that I don't think Paramount ever actually had that one for some strange reason.  All the other Republic Pictures, yes, but The Quiet Man was left out of that group Paramount got several years back and stayed with Artisan.  That was something that we didn't find out about until later.

 

Meanwhile, on DVD, it just keeps getting reissued with the same VHS transfer from the 40th Anniversary Edition done back in '92.

Something does not make sense.  Paramount obtained the Republic films when they purchased Spelling Entertainment in 2000, who had made a deal with Artisan to release the titles and that deal was set to expire in 2005.  In 2003 Artisan was sold to Lionsgate so Artisan was not in business when their original agreement expired. Artisan/Lionsgate's agreement for the titles went back to Paramount in 2005, including The Quiet Man.  Paramount actually announced this title along with many more including Johnny Guitar for release on DVD.  But those releases never happened for Paramount entered into another agreement with Lionsgate to handle the Republic Catalog, of which they have done a great job of miss-handling.  This agreement should expire in 2015 or early 2016.

not soon enough, if they dont release anything, there should be some kind of option clause in the contract, where they just cant shelve or sit on titles

Quote:

Originally Posted by dana martin 

not soon enough, if they dont release anything, there should be some kind of option clause in the contract, where they just cant shelve or sit on titles

The part that doesn't make sense to me is this.  Why would a company license a bunch of films from somebody and then not release them?  A proper restored release of "The Quiet Man" could be a HUUUUUUGE release!! 

yep, at the right time, say just before St. Paddys day, great film, that deserves better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Peterson 

The part that doesn't make sense to me is this.  Why would a company license a bunch of films from somebody and then not release them?  A proper restored release of "The Quiet Man" could be a HUUUUUUGE release!! 

 

At one time a film companies net worth was also based on what size library they had the rights too.  Both companies were able to increase their net worth with this one library.  Paramount's balance sheet was for the better since they got actual cash from the deal.  Lionsgate, which was still a small struggling company was able to increase their balance sheet due to their control of the titles.  It was a win-win for both studios.  Paramount did not care about most of the classic titles and they really never have cared about their titles, unless there was an Audry Hepburn in them.  Summer Redstone also need cash to make interest payments and this was a quick way. 

The problem now is that the libraries have devalued so much over the last four years that there is no interest in any titles.  The biggest example is MGM, they could not get a bid they wanted for the company for their library had devalued so much from when they were purchased.  It had dropped about half billion dollars or more.  In fact the new management has to use the new James Bond films to get a company to show any interest in their library.  Who ever ends up with it, will more than likely treat it in the same way as Lionsgate does Republic.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahollis 

 

At one time a film companies net worth was also based on what size library they had the rights too.  Both companies were able to increase their net worth with this one library.  Paramount's balance sheet was for the better since they got actual cash from the deal.  Lionsgate, which was still a small struggling company was able to increase their balance sheet due to their control of the titles.  It was a win-win for both studios.  Paramount did not care about most of the classic titles and they really never have cared about their titles, unless there was an Audry Hepburn in them.  Summer Redstone also need cash to make interest payments and this was a quick way. 

 

The problem now is that the libraries have devalued so much over the last four years that there is no interest in any titles.  The biggest example is MGM, they could not get a bid they wanted for the company for their library had devalued so much from when they were purchased.  It had dropped about half billion dollars or more.  In fact the new management has to use the new James Bond films to get a company to show any interest in their library.  Who ever ends up with it, will more than likely treat it in the same way as Lionsgate does Republic.
 

 

I can fully understand, actually the value of something is really what someone is willing to pay for it, the thing that I don’t get is that I would think that the value asset of a film library would mean more to the studio systems now than say 30 years ago. And here is my reasoning, the studios count on the revenue from this to there operating budgets.

Home theater and the proper handling of film transfer gets harder for the studios, advances in technology, makes what was damn near impossible, now probable. But with large film vaults, the stock still need to be maintained. That is why sometimes what we would or should think should be released takes longer or doesn’t come at all. And others that you never would think of come out.  

It’s based on release records, some films that tank at the box office have a better release on Home Video, and then turn a profit, and in this business it is about numbers, and the fact of cash. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Peterson 

Please let this be stateside too!!  If I could get "Once Upon A Time in the West" on Blu, I will be a happy man and never ever complain again!!!
 

 

Eric-

Last time I checked with the studio there where no plans for a domestic BD release of this title...

bottom line...and really that's all the studios care about...there isn't enough sales right now with the economy and the over saturated DVD market to justify releasing old catalog titles on Blu-ray - esp if the title needs a major restoration to make any impact on Blu-ray

African Queen was never released on DVD until the Blu-ray

Ten Commandments is still a yearly event on tv/video it's the big Easter title

Everything else....not enought interest from the average Blu-ray buyer and they're still not as many of them as DVD had when it first started

There is only one Audrey Hepburn title on blu-ray (and it's from Criterion through Universal) so even Audrey can't get a blu-ray release from Paramount

"Once Upon a Time in the West" almost went directly into the bargain DVD bin after it was released

I would agree, although some studios seem to want to put out at least a few classics to show that they are actually doing something.

Unfortunately many studios seem to think that 2 to 3 titles per year will do the job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMpasqua 

bottom line...and really that's all the studios care about...there isn't enough sales right now with the economy and the over saturated DVD market to justify releasing old catalog titles on Blu-ray - esp if the title needs a major restoration to make any impact on Blu-ray

 

African Queen was never released on DVD until the Blu-ray

Ten Commandments is still a yearly event on tv/video it's the big Easter title

Everything else....not enought interest from the average Blu-ray buyer and they're still not as many of them as DVD had when it first started

 

 

There is only one Audrey Hepburn title on blu-ray (and it's from Criterion through Universal) so even Audrey can't get a blu-ray release from Paramount

"Once Upon a Time in the West" almost went directly into the bargain DVD bin after it was released

The Once Upon A Time In the West DVD was terrific but I was surprised to see it for so cheap soon after it was released - and it stayed cheap. It's still available for under $10.  I take this to mean that not many people bought a copy so they've had to price it down to move inventory. It's a very unfortunate situation because this stuff costs so much to produce yet nobody buys. The only movies making heaps of money these days are cutesy Pixar cartoons that studios keep churning out. People buy those by the armloads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luisito34 

The Once Upon A Time In the West DVD was terrific but I was surprised to see it for so cheap soon after it was released - and it stayed cheap. It's still available for under $10.  The only movies making heaps of money these days are cutesy Pixar cartoons that studios keep churningTout. People buy those by the armloads.

That's because kids watch the same movies over and over and over...till they know all the dialogue etc.  It's cheaper to buy the disc for the kid then to have to keep renting it etc. Plus Adults usually don't watch a film 3-4 times a day - maybe once a year

These aren't movies they're Baby sitters

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Peterson 

The part that doesn't make sense to me is this.  Why would a company license a bunch of films from somebody and then not release them?  A proper restored release of "The Quiet Man" could be a HUUUUUUGE release!! 

 

Would it?  After spending probably several thousand dollars to clean it up and produce a good master, then manufacturing it, how many copies would they actually sell?  Without doing that, they probably collect some minimal licensing fees for it to be shown on the TCM etc., and they don't have to put any effort into it.  I'm glad when we get classic films on BD, but I'm not surprised when we don't.

Doug
 

Well, the previous releases of "The Quiet Man" were stocked at every major retailer that I visited included Best Buy, Target, Suncoast, etc..., etc....  It may not be as well known as "Gone with the Wind", "Casablanca", & "The Wizard of Oz", but it's not too far behind.  It stars one of the biggest names of all-time, was directed by one of the best directors of all-time, and features a beautiful setting (if properly restored!).  If the market for this title is not as good as it once was, it is their own damn fault.  As much as we may hate seeing "Oz" or "Casbalanca' re-released every few years, that's what keeps the name in the public's mind.  If either of those titles were left to rot for 10 years, you would see a substantial drop in interest for those as well.  If Paramount had any interest, they could make this title just as big with a good marketing campaign.  Unfortunately, the oldest still running studio doesn't have any interest in their own properties. (Aside from the Godfather, Hepburn, & John Wayne westerns).  For years, they flooded the DVD market with classic films with little or no press and then wondered why they did not sell like hotcakes.  I've found a number of Parmount titles at Big Lots for $3 that I was unaware were even released....and I've visited this forum and other online websites nearly every day for 10 years.  They should be absolutely ashamed.  
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Otte 

Would it?  After spending probably several thousand dollars to clean it up and produce a good master, then manufacturing it, how many copies would they actually sell?  Without doing that, they probably collect some minimal licensing fees for it to be shown on the TCM etc., and they don't have to put any effort into it.  I'm glad when we get classic films on BD, but I'm not surprised when we don't.

 

Doug
 

 

Now, I know absolutely nothing about the way corporate entities work (I've been told that in no uncertain terms) but I recall Sumner Redstone giving a speech a few years back where he was saying that it was his wish that Viacom exploited its entire catalogue fully.  This was before the company was reorganised.  I remember thinking "oh good, some decent catalogue titles from Paramount finally", but nothing happened.  It was just before Paramount licensed that handful of films to Legend.  I just wonder what kind of persuasive argument the home entertainment people had for their CEO to carry on not producing catalogue titles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMpasqua 

bottom line...and really that's all the studios care about...there isn't enough sales right now with the economy and the over saturated DVD market to justify releasing old catalog titles on Blu-ray - esp if the title needs a major restoration to make any impact on Blu-ray

 

African Queen was never released on DVD until the Blu-ray

Ten Commandments is still a yearly event on tv/video it's the big Easter title

Everything else....not enought interest from the average Blu-ray buyer and they're still not as many of them as DVD had when it first started

 

 

There is only one Audrey Hepburn title on blu-ray (and it's from Criterion through Universal) so even Audrey can't get a blu-ray release from Paramount

"Once Upon a Time in the West" almost went directly into the bargain DVD bin after it was released

Looks like "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" may be on their way to Blu.  See the article at the Bits:  http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

Given that almost every Paramount catalog DVD is out of print, and given Amazon's recent (?) practice of displaying a "fulfilled by Amazon" third party seller's price in the lead spot, making it look, at a glance, like the product is still available new from Amazon (until you do a double-take on the price), here's an example of the present state of catalog title shopping:

http://www.amazon.com/Shootist-John-Wayne/dp/B00005JSGL/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1299241133&sr=1-1

And lest we forget this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Man-Blu-ray-Robert-Preston/dp/B001B51B9M/ref=sr_1_4?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1299244580&sr=1-4

Thanks, Parmount.  Thanks, Warners.  And a very special thanks to you, too, Amazon.