great news from the Peter Staddon Chat regarding older classic titles (1 Viewer)

[Tony Scello]

Simply a great chat. Thanks to Ron and Parker for putting it on and Peter Staddon for being so gracious with his time.

There were many things to be excited about. As a fan of the Alien Series I get the feeling that I, and other fans, are going to get the type of ultimate editions/director's cuts we've been craving.

I have to admit that I was shocked to hear that Fox may no longer own the rights to The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. I know TTI was a co-production with Warner Bros. but Fox, I believe, has always had distribution rights in the U.S. to this point. We were also told last year that TPA may get a re-release by Fox in 2002 but that the audio was a real problem. Now it may turn out that Fox may not even own the rights to this anymore(who does?).

Thanks again to Mr. Staddon and Fox for giving their customers the information and product they desire.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Wasn't BH 90210 produced by Aaron Spelling? In that case I think you'd be looking at Paramount, which acquired Spelling Entertainment along with Viacom.

 

[Greg_M]

Welcome back Peter Staddon,

Very interesting chat, regarding the older titles (I'm guessing if you read between the lines) FOX may be licensing them out? Anchor Bay maybe?

Also Regarding "All That Jazz" It would make sense to release the DVD along with "Chicago" mostly because people who are unaware may pick it up thinking it is "Chicago" hence the song "All The Jazz". Secondly because of word of mouth, people will compare the two films, peaking interest in "ATJ"

Though, I do think it is a mistake when studios release a bunch of genre films all at once - the consumer only has so much money to go around at any given point (Why not spread them out over the year - if you release 8 title per month why not 1 blockbuster, 1 western, 1 science fiction, 1 musical, 1 comedy) I would guess they would sell very well.

FOX seems to be on the right track with their Academy Award Pictures - 1 a month I believe. Paramount on the other hand releases a bunch of Westerns each spring, and last fall 5-6 Musicals (Though I only brought two "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever") I don't remember what else was released.

As it stands due to "Chicago" we will see more than a dozen musical films released during the March-April time period. Most will be passed by, in favor of one or two purchases.

 

[oscar_merkx]

I would second a SE of Planet of the Apes (original) instantly

 

[Paul_Scott]

jmo, but i think studios would better serve the consumer by just releasing these old catalog titles when they are ready to go (like atj), AND THEN, when a high profile new release-along the same genre, comes along, make some point of purchase displays and have the retailers display them along side.
it seems like i used to see things like this all the time with VHS...
or even just pack some promo flyer in with the new release dvd, advertising any other similar genre titles already availble, and maybe a rebate coupon.
seems to me, that would stimulate more sales, because like Greg said, theres only so much money to go around each week anyway.
they may think that the inital pop is worth it, but it seems to me a 6 or 12 month window with a rebate coupon would stimulate just as much if not more interest.

i realize rebates are a pain for both distributors and consumers, but its really just the direct advertising factor that is the whole point.
you are actually hitting the very consumers that would likely be interested in a title they may not be familiar with.

though, with a title like ATJ, i think there are plenty of people who would pick it up whenever it is released.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Quote:

I completely agree with you on this point. And that is why I have repeatedly called for Fox to release "All That Jazz" ASAP, instead of playing a waiting game of trying to find the perfect scenario in which to release it. Either this film can stand & sell on its own merits or it can't. I sincerely believe that it will & can sell based on its own merits & does not need to be joined at the hip with "Chicago" or any other film.

 

[Jason Borchers]

I was a little disappointed by this:

Quote:

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Good to know. I knew MGM produced it and released it theatrically (their lion slate is at the head of the film)-- however the VHS was released by CBS Fox (and as far as I can tell is STILL being released by Fox- as the most recent version i've seen at a newly constructed HOLLYWOOD VIDEO location seemed to have the same Fox imprint).

I wonder if anyone at MGM has an interest in hiring me (cheap!) to be a DVD producer for this one title.

-Vince

 

[David Lawson]

What, no one appreciates the confirmation on the status of Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Vince: the reason why it had the CBS/Fox imprint is because United Artists used CBS/FOX as their video distributor.

I've seen numerous oddities like this... The Jazz Singer was released by CBS/FOX, which was licensed from United Arists, from which AAP gave to UA from a 1960's merger, which WB gave to AAP.

Rights tracking can be fun!

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

You don't know the half of it! Try keeping the old Embassy library straight sometime -- the splitting hairs over that split rights situation can split the skull of a less patient man.

Yeah, to clarify this O.C. & STIGGS business -- the old Magnetic Video made a longterm licensing deal with United Artists 'round 1980. Just after that is when UA merged with MGM. And even though they were called MGM/UA, for contractual purposes their movies were divided into separate MGM and UA releases, and as such for over 10 years, as Magnetic became CBS/Fox, the UA releases went to Fox.
Around the mid-80's, MGM was getting tired of this arrangement, and during the brief tenure Ted Turner had of owning the combined company, tried to get out of it. There was a lawsuit, MGM lost, and as a result for the remaining years of the agreement, even some MGM films as well as UA films began to get released on video by Fox (A FISH CALLED WANDA, A DRY WHITE SEASON). This arrangement finally terminated by the mid-90's. The only reason I can think of as to why you occasionally still find CBS/Fox or Fox Video cassettes of MGM/UA titles like O.C. & STIGGS is because they are remaining unusued inventory in supplier warehouses.

I once tried to get a job at MGM after the Polygram buyout to help them sort through the usable titles. The interviewer asked me "Are you a lawyer?" and I replied, "No, I'm just a projectionist with a photographic memory." I didn't get the job. Pfui.

 

[Greg_M]

Jeff,
I actually know some people who thought "All That Jazz" was the film version of "Chicago"

I actually believed Fox would have released "All That Jazz" on DVD when the film of "Chicago" opened in theaters (Jan 03') and beat the rush for "Chicago" on DVD. Since it may hold fans over until the "Chicago" DVD is released. Especially with all the Oscar buzz. It would seem to make sense. After all much of "All That Jazz" concerns the "making of" the stage version of "Chicago"

I would actually buy "Chicago" over "All That Jazz" ("All That Jazz" very low on my list anyway, and many other titles will be arriving early this coming year which I would rather purchase - Fosse's "Sweet Charity" 3/04/03 for example).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Some of us are never going to be satisfied until "All That Jazz" is released, but I understand Fox's desire to market this dvd along with the film adaptation of Bob Fosse's original Broadway play "Chicago". If this film becomes a big hit and people see Bob Fosse's name in the writing credits again then there might be more interest in Fosse's other work such as "All That Jazz".





Crawdaddy

 

[Jeff_HR]

I would actually buy "Chicago" over "All That Jazz" which is low on my list anyway, and many other titles will be arriving early this coming year which I would rather purchase

I personally have no interest at all in "Chicago" or any other Fosse title. If I was restricted to buying only R1 DVDs, I would be extremely upset that "All That Jazz" was being delayed so long.

 

[Jodee]

After reading the transcript, I felt bad for Mr. Staddon for having to answer the same questions over and over. Couldn't there be another way to do this to avoid wasting his time as well as allowing him to answer more questions?
Emailing or IM'ing the question to a moderator in advance to avoid duplication, or at the very least require the question askers to have been present at the chat from the beginning would cut down on this.
Mr. Staddon was very gracious and polite about it but it can't be fun for him to have to repeat himself like that. I would just cringe every time I read the line "Sorry if this has already been asked before..."
I wasn't able to attend the chat but if I could have I would have asked about these films:

At Long Last Love
Eating Raoul
High Anxiety
How I Got Into College
Lifeboat
Mischief
Night of the Comet
Only the Lonely
Secrets & Lies
Wedding Banquet, The
What a Way to Go!

Sadly, no one asked about these. :frowning:

 

[Jean-Michel]

Somebody at the Criterion boards suggested that Anchor Bay would be a far more likely candidate for the three licensed-out titles (3 Women, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Kagemusha) than Criterion, since AB has an existing relationship with Fox (cf. The Stunt Man). Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[James Reader]

Peter Staddon's response to the Ally McBeal issue was interesting - basically he stated the music rights were a legal minefield (something I can understand with a show like Ally McBeal) but..
Come mid-January 2003, ALL of Ally McBeal will be available on DVD (and VHS if anybody cares) in the UK. And I'm sure the rest of Europe, Japan and Austalila will not be far behind (if they don't have the episodes already).
Now don't think I'm calling Mr Staddon a liar - because I'm not! Let's get this straight - I'm sure that there are legal issues preventing the US release.
But does anybody know why such issues could be easily overcome in - basically - the rest of the world apart from America?
Is it because, in general, the UK and other territories tended to sell TV shows on VHS going back to the birth of the VHS sell-through market? Does this mean the oversea's rights were negotiated in the original contract? With the expectation of number of overseas home releases?
I have all the existing Ally McBeal Seasons (1 and 4 are Dutch, 2 and 3 are UK) and while I have repeatedly watched my favorite episodes, I have not yet watched each episode. So it is possible that some music could have been replaced.
Does anyone know if this is the case?

 

[Jeff_HR]

I don't have anaswer for you, but what you are saying makes a lot of sense to me & can easily but applied to other DVD situations involving USA rights issues vs. the rest of the world.

 

[Jim_K]

Kudos to Peter for devoting his time for the chat.
Glad to see the studio-chats resume even though I was to busy to attend. Hopefully we'll have more in the future.
Good news on:
Kagemusha
Millers Crossing
One Million Years BC
My Darling Clementine
Predator SE
A suggestion for Peter on the Fly SE. A 3 disc set with both the original '58 version & '86 remake would be fantastic.
I'm a little indifferent on another Alien series release. I'm only interested in the first 2 films and I don't see how Alien could be improved upon for me to buy it again. We'll see though.
The only bad news for me was no Planet of the Apes '68 SE :frowning:
Now for some sour grapes because nobody asked about:
The Enemy Below
The Innocents
Classic Westerns i.e. Comancheros, Gunfighter, Broken Arrow, etc.
The Tyrone Power classics Mark of Zorro, Black Swan, etc.
Hopefully some of these will make it out in 2003.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Now for some sour grapes because nobody asked about :
The Enemy Below
The Innocents

I believe there was a thread earlier this year that mentioned that "The Enemy Below" was to be a 2003 release as part of a Fox "War Series".