Criterion ready to release IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1 Viewer)

[Joe Lugoff]

Dear CriterionTake your timeGet it rightWe can waitThank you

Speak for yourself.

Hurry up.

I'm not getting any younger.

I can't wait.

 

[Steve...O]

If you guys think this is a long wait, consider WHV and the Bowery Boys. An HTF chat around 2005 indicated releases were starting within the year. They never appeared at retail and finally were relegated to the archive as barebones releases in 2012/2013 with half the films still awaiting release.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Earlier in 1963, CLEOPATRA was cut even more than MAD WORLD, but it wasn't thrown in the waste can (although it probably should have been.)

I love Mad World, but the first half of Cleopatra is easily a better film.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Were people actually expecting Criterion to release MAD WORLD this year? I wouldn't hold my breath, in fact, I don't expect to see this for quite some time if they're really working on an all-encompassing box set. Once this sludges out of the rumor stage and a formal announcement is made, it's entirely possible a year or more will transpire before we see the final product. Just being realistic here.

Criterion always announces 3 months ahead of release. There is no other way they do things, so once this is announced there will be 3 months until release.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I love Mad World, but the first half of Cleopatra is easily a better film.

Not that it matters, because it's all just opinion, but I don't agree. I don't believe for one second that Elizabeth Taylor is Cleopatra. She's terrible in that movie. And as cartoonish as some of them are, I somehow believe in all of the characters in MAD WORLD.

And, of course this matters not at all, but for the record, on the IMDB, CLEO has a 6.8 and MAD WORLD a 7.4.

And on Rotten Tomatoes, CLEO has a rotten 46% and MAD WORLD 79% -- a huge difference.

My final piece of evidence that MAD WORLD is the better movie is that CLEOPATRA got a Best Picture nomination and MAD WORLD didn't.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

If you could separate out the first half of Cleo from the second (which was the original intent) It would stand higher. The second half drags it down. But yes, this is all personal opinion and I love both films

 

[Carl LaFong]

I work in the licensing business -- in the consumer products end, which includes home video. (I won't reveal the name of the major studio I work for, but its initials begin with a "Big W.") I've been here for 15 years, so I'm no novice at DVD marketing strategies.

At this point, Criterion has already blown both the official 50th Anniversary AND Christmas 2013. With all due respect to everyone who has stated otherwise, do NOT hold your breath for a January/February announcement. From a marketing perspective, there's no practical reason for them to hurry up the release at this point. That would be like bolting the proverbial barn door after the horse has flown. Save your shekels for Christmas 2014. That would be my earliest guess, strictly from a business standpoint. As cineMANIAC said: just being realistic here.

 

[TravisR]

I work in the licensing business -- in the consumer products end, which includes home video. (I won't reveal the name of the major studio I work for, but its initials begin with a "Big W.") I've been here for 15 years, so I'm no novice at DVD marketing strategies.

At this point, Criterion has already blown both the official 50th Anniversary AND Christmas 2013. With all due respect to everyone who has stated otherwise, do NOT hold your breath for a January/February announcement. From a marketing perspective, there's no practical reason for them to hurry up the release at this point. That would be like bolting the proverbial barn door after the horse has flown. Save your shekels for Christmas 2014. That would be my earliest guess, strictly from a business standpoint. As cineMANIAC said: just being realistic here.

If this was a studio, I'd agree with you but Criterion doesn't always operate that way. They've put out Hitchcock movies (which I have to imagine are fairly good sellers for them) in the summer & winter, The Devil's Backbone (a title popular enough that they moved up the release so it would be available during the Barnes And Noble sale) came out this summer and On The Waterfront came out last winter.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Criterion doesn't target seasons as majors do, they release when the product is ready for market. I don't think we have much longer to wait on this one

 

[Joe Lugoff]

This place is just like everywhere else in the world. As soon as someone says A, someone else comes along and says Z, with just as much "authority."

Do any of you really know what you're talking about? Be honest now.

 

[TravisR]

Do any of you really know what you're talking about? Be honest now.

I have literally zero inside knowledge of Criterion but I cited previous examples of Criterion having released bigger titles outside of the fall. Besides unrelenting pessimism, I see no reason to think that Criterion will do what the studios do and only release key catalog titles around the holidays. Even when you look at their fall lineup this year, there's not many examples of big or expensive titles (the $200 Zatoichi set being an exception) compared to earlier in the year.

 

[cineMANIAC]

I work in the licensing business -- in the consumer products end, which includes home video. (I won't reveal the name of the major studio I work for, but its initials begin with a "Big W.") I've been here for 15 years, so I'm no novice at DVD marketing strategies.

At this point, Criterion has already blown both the official 50th Anniversary AND Christmas 2013. With all due respect to everyone who has stated otherwise, do NOT hold your breath for a January/February announcement. From a marketing perspective, there's no practical reason for them to hurry up the release at this point. That would be like bolting the proverbial barn door after the horse has flown. Save your shekels for Christmas 2014. That would be my earliest guess, strictly from a business standpoint. As cineMANIAC said: just being realistic here.

As much as people want this sooner rather than later, like I said, don't hold your breath. To those of you who want Criterion to "hurry up", I'd say, do you want something half-assed now or something complete and definitive later? Waiting definitely sucks. I should know, I've been waiting for an announcement for that David Cronenberg set that was "supposed" to come out next month and now it's not even on the 2013 schedule, even though one or 2 films on that forthcoming set were teased earlier this year. Bummer. But I know Criterion will do a top-notch job on it and release it when it's ready.

And I'm thankful Criterion doesn't do season tie-ins or any of that unnecessary stuff. It's a stupid marketing ploy.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I think it's a disservice for some to come here and warn members that
there is a long period of waiting ahead for the release of MAD WORLD
to Blu-ray.

I have been on the road lately, and haven't been keeping up with internal
information regarding the upcoming Blu-ray release, but from what I do know,
there isn't any effort on Criterion's part to shelve this release for as long as they
are able to other than making it the best release they can.

This project started as one thing, and as more people became involved, it turned
into something much larger than imagined. Last I have been made aware, all delays
at this point are due to the fact that there is a huge realization that the utmost care
must be given to making this film look as good as it can and to clear as much
licensing as possible for included extra feature content.

Anyone that wants to see this release rushed to shelves is being foolish. Those who
are asking for Criterion to take their time, understand that the more time they take,
the better this release becomes.

That being said, I am very confident that Criterion will not be holding up this Blu-ray
for any other reasons than content. Everything I have heard points to the fact that
they want it out as soon as they can and there is still a deadline in place to make that
happen.

 

[Paul Rossen]

This was discussed earlier in this thread, Saul Bass did create those two posters.

Came across this site listing and showing all movie posters that Saul Bass designed.

http://www.film.com/photos/every-saul-bass-movie-poster-gallery

 

[darkrock17]

From Paul's link to Saul's posters it seems if you look at Advise & Consent's poster with the arm holding the bag, and then at Mad World's psoter with the arm coming out of the globe holding the bag that it could easily be associated with Saul. Both arms holding their bags look very similar.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Also keep in mind that Criterion works on releases for a long time before the hint or announcement is made, so don't forget that they could have been working on gathering supplements etc for perhaps a year before even the hint came out. I would say at this point we are way closer to the end of the work than the beginning.

 

[Escapay]

This project started as one thing, and as more people became involved, it turned
into something much larger than imagined. Last I have been made aware, all delays
at this point are due to the fact that there is a huge realization that the utmost care
must be given to making this film look as good as it can and to clear as much
licensing as possible for included extra feature content.

Now I'm really excited for this release, especially knowing how much work and care is going into it. Criterion can take all the time they want, it'll be worth the wait for me.

 

[rich_d]

I work in the licensing business -- in the consumer products end, which includes home video. (I won't reveal the name of the major studio I work for, but its initials begin with a "Big W.") I've been here for 15 years, so I'm no novice at DVD marketing strategies.

At this point, Criterion has already blown both the official 50th Anniversary AND Christmas 2013. With all due respect to everyone who has stated otherwise, do NOT hold your breath for a January/February announcement. From a marketing perspective, there's no practical reason for them to hurry up the release at this point. That would be like bolting the proverbial barn door after the horse has flown. Save your shekels for Christmas 2014. That would be my earliest guess, strictly from a business standpoint. As cineMANIAC said: just being realistic here.

Do any insiders know Criterion's marketing deal with its customers? For the big boys, the profit split between Producer/Merchant was 100%/0% for the first two weeks of initial release. Then the Merchant's percent grows over time. At least, that was the way things worked back a few years ago.

If Criterion's deal is simply the same as the rest of the industry, that certainly does not preclude Criterion from releasing Mad World whenever they wish ... but from a profitability standpoint *not* releasing it during gift season is quite the blow.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

The Merchant Ivory deal was a totally separate situation, aside from Howard's End, none of those releases were branded Criterion.

 

[BarryR]

Flipping back a page or so, technically I did see a member of MAD WORLD in person. Sort of. As a kid from New York in 1967, on vacation I found myself on a backlot tour of MGM, an incredible experience for the burgeoning movie buff that I was. As we approached the commissary the guide pointed out Milton Berle walking away from us chatting with, I think, Robert Morse. So, I saw Milton Berle from the back. For the record, during the same trip I saw Buster Keaton's rather new grave.