Warner may own MGM Update: Sony/Columbia buys MGM (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

One other thought...

With Warner gaining all these films, perhaps it would be wise to license many of the titles to Criterion.

This would be one way that Criterion can re-use existing supplemental materials for the United Artists films they released on laserdisc. And they'd probably be a good label to license the many foreign films (like the Fellini films)

 

[John Kilduff]

I love a good hunk of cheese...

Widescreen treatments for "Remo Williams", the "Death Wish" sequels, and the "Breakin'" movies. I'd also like:

-Season sets of "Fame" and "Kids Incorporated"

-"Spaceballs: The Special Edition"

-A special edition of "Road House" (give it the "Showgirls: Special Edition" treatment...Bring in Michael J. Nelson for a commentary!)

-2-Disc Special Editions for "Bull Durham", "Manhunter" and "Thief"

-"Blade Runner: The Ultimate Edition"

-Anamorphic remasters of 70s and 80s movies like "Smile" and "Young Doctors In Love" (featurettes, deleted scenes and commentary tracks, anyone?)

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

If you thought my "I Love The 80s Again" wish list was ginormous, you ain't seen nothing yet. EDITS TO COME!

 

[Joshua_W]

Does MGM hold the rights to the theatrical cut of "Blade Runner?" I seem to recall reading that somewhere.

 

[John Kilduff]

Well, maybe Mr. Heuck could be of more assistance, but I'd say a hesitant "Yes". Basically, I think it's because a cut or two of "Blade Runner" was released by Embassy Home Video, and one thing led to another, and MGM may have ended up with a few cuts of "Blade Runner".

Now that the Warner-MGM deal is all but sealed, I'd say we might be a step closer to "Blade Runner: The Ultimate Edition".

Zen Butler, throw me a bone here.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

Edit 1 on the way.

 

[todd s]

Look out. According to www.thedigitalbits.com Sony has increased it's offer for the library. Warner countered that it will pull it's offer if MGM doesn't accept it.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I can see why Sony is so hot on obtaining MGM --
it would be a huge thrust for their Blue-Ray HD
format.

 

[TedD]

Well, I wouldn't be counting any chickens or releases yet. Just heard on the news this morning that Sony upped their offer for MGM. I'm pretty sure that Sony's got the deeper pockets here.

Ted

 

[Paul.S]

Not really. Sony's contribution to the ~$4.6B valuation is only $200M. The rest is debt assumption and private equity contribution. The complicated relationship with private equity is why Sony's offer has been stymied.

But just when it looked like TW was ahead in the race . . .

TW drops MGM bid

-p

 

[Alistair_M]

Could someone please answer this question

If Sony bought MGM and only supported Blueray

Would the classic MGMs (pre 1960) be coming on Bluray - or does Warner have the right to release them on HD-DVD if thats the format it chooses to support. I ask this as I think Warner has the rights for the classic movies at the moment.

I really need to know this.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Warner maintains the rights to most pre-1960 MGM films.






Crawdaddy

 

[Joshua Clinard]

Terrible. Terrible news.

 

[Paul.S]

Even at the time of this post yesterday, this was a premature statement. The only place I saw the "news" that TW had caged the Lion was at that ElitesTV site. Hardly a reputable financial news source--the same site had a story about Harrison Ford needing to lose weight for a role in Jim Cameron's new movie because 3D adds pounds. :rolleyes

"Time Warner Drops MGM Bid, Sony Persists"

-p

 

[Joshua_W]

This makes me sick.

I love MGM... they do such a great job of putting out older, obscure movies onto DVD with good transfers and great prices. Great lines -- Midnight Movies, Avante-Garde Cinema.

Just looking at Sony's track record with DVD, it's really disappointing. Pan and scan, poor transfers, high prices, bare-bones discs. They released "Party Girl" pan and scan, with a poor transfer, for a $25 MSRP. Essentially the same thing I bought from Canada for $5.00. Should we expect them to treat MGM's catalog, the Midnight Movies, great little gems like "Flesh+Blood" with the same kind of disregard? We can marvel at the Blu-Ray specs for days on end, but Sony doesn't even seem interested in making their catalog DVDs all they can be, so why should expect them to treat their catalog titles on Blu-Ray any differently?

Should I start buying up the MGM DVDs I don't already have now? What will happen once Sony gets their hands on their catalog? There are still some Midnight Movies I don't have, and maybe a dozen or so others.

 

[Randi]

I just got an e-mail alert from Daily Variety:

BREAKING NEWS: Time Warner axes MGM bid

you may have to be a subscriber in order to read the article.


Miss Randi

 

[todd s]

This hurts the chances of a Hobbit movie done by Peter Jackson. :frowning:

 

[Michael Allred]

Talk about being letdown....

Well, I guess I can look forward to "The Return of the Living Dead" superbit DVDs....:frowning:

 

[Mike_Richardson]

Yahoo story here:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ia_mgm_sony_dc

It may not be good news for DVD re-issues, but it IS good news for theatrical franchises like 007. I'm not upset that the studio that has ruined possible franchises like CATWOMAN and turned out numerous mega-budget flops (PLUTO NASH, anyone?) isn't going to be in charge of future Bond pictures for starters.

 

[Sean Laughter]

This story seems to indicate a final deal with Sony is even closer.

CNN Business

 

[Michael Elliott]

Excellent. More P&S, $30 titles.





Great question, which I'd like to know the answer to. When Warner bought the pre-1986 MGM titles, they simply put their logos on the DVDs and re-released them. IF, Columbia does this, what about the prices? Will Columbia keep the prices at $15 retail or push them up to $30 retail? Many MGM discs are WS/FF so will they remove the widescreen version?

Either way, I see this as a horrible thing.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I agree that some Sony DVDs are poor in quality but isn't this a good thing if it means one hidef DVD format?

That's sure better than another format war that holds up technological progress...