Any word on The Abyss? (2 Viewers)

[TravisR]

And yes, I hope it has both versions and the doc!

Fox is pretty good with including all versions and porting over the special features onto their Blu-rays.

 

[YanMan]

https://twitter.com/JimCameron/status/1110233321936584704

 

[Kenshiro]

Annual "is The Abyss coming out on Blu-ray, Jim Cameron?" news.

From space.com, a few days ago.

James Cameron recounts 50 years of cinematic art in lavish 'Tech Noir' book (exclusive)

The superstar director of Terminator, Aliens and Avatar discusses early artistic influences and concept art for his classic creative projects.

www.space.com

Space.com: "The Abyss" is often a neglected Cameron classic that was a pioneering film in so many ways. What can you tell us about concept art created for it and will there be a high-definition 4K transfer at some point?

Cameron: Yeah, we finished the transfer and I wanted to do it myself because Mikael [Salomon] did such a beautiful job with the cinematography on that film. It is truly, truly gorgeous cinematography. That was before I started to assert myself in terms of lighting and asking the cinematographer to do certain things. I'd compose with the camera and choose the lenses, but I left the lighting to him. He did a remarkable job on that movie that I appreciate better now than I did even as we were making it.

I'd also like to point out that he took one look at the first day's dailies of the underwater lighting and he went out and learned to scuba dive. He came in the following Monday morning, the worst diver in the world, but he reinvented underwater lighting. He went for indirect lighting and he got everybody doing things that were not just outside their comfort zone, they'd never even thought of it. Suddenly the underwater shots start to live up to the surface photography.

So I just recently finished the high-def transfer a couple of months ago so presumably there’ll be Blu-rays and it will stream with a proper transfer from now on. I appreciate what you said about the film. It didn't make much money in its day, but it does seem to be well-liked over time. The designers were basically Ron Cobb on the one hand, and Steve Burg on the other, who was lead designer of the NTIs, the non-terrestrial intelligence, the look of their city and bodies and faces. Steve was a guy that I worked with on "Terminator 2" after that. He was quite young at the time and fairly new to design.

Whereas Ron Cobb was quite well seasoned. He'd done "Blade Runner" and "Alien" and worked with me on "Aliens." Ron did all the lived-in tech of the underwater oil rig. I’m sure there were people that saw the film and thought that we just went and filmed on one of those underwater oil rigs that they have. Which they don't! But it looked real enough that you believed it was a real facility. It looked like the real deal if there ever was such a thing.

 

[Ric Easton]

I started this thread over 13 years ago. In that time we have not gotten an anamorphic widescreen DVD, Blu-ray or now, a 4K release. One of my all time favorite movies and I have not watched it since I upgraded to a hi-def set over 20 years ago. Yeah, I know, Cameron has been busy on his dozens of Avatar sequels since I first started this thread, so he is unable to approve a transfer. Ugh! I really can‘t believe I‘m still waiting for this! Oops, ok, I just read the previous post. A new transfer gas been approved? Ok… where is it?!

 

[Kyle_D]

If Disney ever decides to release this on disc (and that's a big if given their position on catalog UHD releases), I wouldn't expect it before the end of the year, when it would tie-in with Avatar 2.

I expect the new transfer to eventually show up on Disney+.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

All the more frustrating since there's a very good HD transfer of the theatrical cut that's been making the cable & streaming rounds for the past several years. It's currently available on Starz in the US.

 

[Ric Easton]

Yeah, I was thinking this morning that this was a 20th Century Fox release, which further muddies the waters. Disney owns it now, right? I just can’t believe that a decent copy of my favorite film is still unavailable on disc after all these years. And oh yeah, I want the director’s cut as well.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Yeah, I was thinking this morning that this was a 20th Century Fox release, which further muddies the waters. Disney owns it now, right? I just can’t believe that a decent copy of my favorite film is still unavailable on disc after all these years. And oh yeah, I want the director’s cut as well.

Disney owns it, but I really feel like all James Cameron would have to do is say, "Hey, release this," and Disney would probably comply. Maybe they are waiting to time it closer to Avatar 2.

I just hope there aren't a whole bunch of digital "fixes" and waxy-looking people in it.

 

[Kyle_D]

20th Century Fox, for all intents an purposes, no longer exists. It's all Disney now, and their CFO is on the record that management has made a "'strategic decision' to re-direct Disney titles to direct-to-consumer streaming channels, rather than legacy retail channels."

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/disney-q2-home-entertainment-revenue-slips-due-to-lower-catalog-sales/

Basically, Disney wants to incentivize everyone to subscribe to Disney+ so they can build and maintain a consistent revenue stream, and they're deliberately not releasing catalog titles on discs in order to incentivize subscriptions. They've done the math and market research, and they decided they'd rather get $10 a month from you in perpetuity instead of selling you three $25 catalog titles a year.

 

[John Dirk]

20th Century Fox, for all intents an purposes, no longer exists. It's all Disney now, and their CFO is on the record that management has made a "'strategic decision' to re-direct Disney titles to direct-to-consumer streaming channels, rather than legacy retail channels."

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/disney-q2-home-entertainment-revenue-slips-due-to-lower-catalog-sales/

Basically, Disney wants to incentivize everyone to subscribe to Disney+ so they can build and maintain a consistent revenue stream, and they're deliberately not releasing catalog titles on discs in order to incentivize subscriptions. They've done the math and market research, and they decided they'd rather get $10 a month from you in perpetuity instead of selling you three $25 catalog titles a year.

[Sarcasm] Digital content being held ransom by streaming platforms? Nah, that would never happen. [/Sarcasm]

 

[Nick*Z]

At this stage, I think we have about as much chance of seeing The Abyss come to Blu as True Lies, Porgy and Bess, Beyond the Forest, the original unaltered Star Wars trilogy, Centennial Summer, and, the complete version of 1954's A Star is Born. In other words, I really wouldn't hold your breath.

 

[JoshZ]

Disney owns it, but I really feel like all James Cameron would have to do is say, "Hey, release this," and Disney would probably comply. Maybe they are waiting to time it closer to Avatar 2.

I just hope there aren't a whole bunch of digital "fixes" and waxy-looking people in it.

It's James Cameron. At the very least, you can expect a heavy slathering of teal-and-orange over everything.

 

[dpippel]

I swear, every time this discussion gets fired back up it reminds me of Groundhog Day. I can hear Sonny & Cher now...

 

[Kyle_D]

From the 'Bits today:

We’ve also got a bit of rumor control for you: There are reports circulating online today that James Cameron’s The Abyss is coming to 4K Ultra HD in August from Disney and 20th Century Studios. That’s not impossible, but it is unlikely. Here’s what we can confirm for sure: The title is definitely being prepared for release on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray in the months ahead, as is the original Avatar. But our industry sources are telling us (and we circled back with them just yesterday) that it’s more likely to come very late this year (with the theatrical release Avatar: The Way of Water) or early next year (with Avatar 2’s home release). The situation is fluid and not unlike what we just went through with Michael Mann’s Heat. We first heard from studio sources that the title was coming to 4K well over a year ago—and the release was originally expected in August 2021—only to see it delayed again and again, reportedly due to the difficulties of getting the director and all relevant parties to sign off on everything. (Sound familiar?) The bottom line is both The Abyss and Avatar are coming to 4K sooner rather than later. But as always, it’s best not to hold your breath waiting for it right now because a lot is in flux and until it’s officially announced... it ain’t official.

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/060922-1130

 

[JoshZ]

Sure thing, Bill. Uh huh. A new release of The Abyss is right around the corner, just like you've been saying for the last 14 years.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sure thing, Bill. Uh huh. A new release of The Abyss is right around the corner, just like you've been saying for the last 14 years.

In all fairness to Bill Hunt, didn't Cameron finally get around to Supervising these 4k transfers over the past year?

I admit I have been half paying attention to the situation as of late, but I thought that is the last thing I read.

If that is the case, then I could see a release being imminent.

My only concern is how it's done. I would THINK it will be a disc release due to James Cameron's involvement and a release alongside AVATAR.

On the other hand, would Disney dare to make it a channel streaming exclusively?

I tend to think a disc release is being planned. It's just difficult to nail down due to the studio being extremely unfriendly to the disc market.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

didn't Cameron finally get around to Supervising these 4k transfers over the past year?

That’s correct. The studio had previous created a new master which was then shown on various cable and streaming outlets like HBO in recent years. Cameron then supervised the final grading of that master I believe last spring - the color timer posted about it on social media at the time. So the work is done. It’s just a question of release. And lots of us armchair experts have long suspected that a physical media release would be tied to either the theatrical or disc release of Avatar 2, which still seems to be the case.

 

[Sam Favate]

Here’s the thing: I’m sure I’ll buy The Abyss when it comes to disc. I’m also sure I would have bought it on DVD and Blu-ray already and would be preparing to buy it a third time, so the studio left money on the table by waiting so long. Also, the long wait for this has kinda made me not care. Like I said, I’ll get it, but I’m not at all anxious for it.

 

[Dick]

Fox is pretty good with including all versions and porting over the special features onto their Blu-rays.

Fox, yes. Disney, no.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

20th Century Fox, for all intents an purposes, no longer exists. It's all Disney now, and their CFO is on the record that management has made a "'strategic decision' to re-direct Disney titles to direct-to-consumer streaming channels, rather than legacy retail channels."

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/disney-q2-home-entertainment-revenue-slips-due-to-lower-catalog-sales/

Basically, Disney wants to incentivize everyone to subscribe to Disney+ so they can build and maintain a consistent revenue stream, and they're deliberately not releasing catalog titles on discs in order to incentivize subscriptions. They've done the math and market research, and they decided they'd rather get $10 a month from you in perpetuity instead of selling you three $25 catalog titles a year.

But if that’s the case wouldn’t Disney still make available a digital version to buy on iTunes, or wherever like other Disney titles? Even if it’s HD only I would certainly buy it.
As for Avatar I could scare less for a 4K version as I own the 3D disc which is the only way to view it as it was composed and optimized for that format.