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John Carpenter's "Elvis: The Movie" – DVD campaign PLUS news on it's status! (1 Viewer)

Michael Allred

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Hey gang, I have just created a web page devoted to getting Carpenter's 1979 TV film "Elvis: The Movie" released on DVD. Here's the link;

http://members.tripod.com/~evilbaby/Elvis.html

As any devoted fan knows, "Elvis" was the first time Carpenter teamed up with Kurt Russell.

Anyway, I just heard from Dick Clark Productions today (they produced the film) about this very issue and here's what I was told;

"Elvis" is a priority for the company to release on DVD, however there are some legal issues they need to deal with before anything can happen, specifically song clearances. There are several songs in the film, such as "Blue Moon Over Kentucky" whose master tapes belong to someone else. The songs will have to be dealt with before anything can be done. These issues deal with about 8 songs in total.

They said they have 2 options, either work out a deal to keep the songs or simply re-score the movie with new songs to take the place of the ones they cannot clear.

They said they'd also be interested in getting John Carpenter to do a audio commentary track but that's somewhat down-the-line as they have to clear up the legal issues before even thinking about anything else.
However, since I'm semi-regularly communicating with Carpenter's assistant Gina, they'd get back to me about getting him involved when everything's settled.

They again said that "Elvis" is on the "front burner" for them and that they really want to release it on DVD as soon as they can.

As for a specific company distributing the DVD, none of that has been discussed yet for obvious reasons.

Check out my web page for future updates!
 

Drew Mertz

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Love carpenter, though I havenever seen the movie. Can`t say I`m an Elvis fan either, but I`d buy the movie in a second if its released.
 

oscar_merkx

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I have not seen this either, yet anything by Carpenter and Russell is a blind purchase for me.


Thanks for the update Michael

:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Ruz-El

Fake Shemp
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I remember seeing this on VHS, and thinking that it wasn't all that bad. I seem to recall that it was largly based on the book "Elvis: What Happened?"

I saw it a few times before I realized it was the same John Carpenter as Halloween, and being surprised, as it is such a different film from his others. Kurt Russell is a little awkward as Elvis.

I'd probably pick this up.
 

Johnny G

Supporting Actor
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Dec 12, 2000
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As long as they use the full 164 minute version, I'd give it a miss if it was the shorter cut.

I remember watching this around 20 years ago then Val Kilmer's Nick Rivers in Top Secret just reminded me of Kurt Russell playing Elvis & it spoilt it for me but I'd love to see the extended cut.
 

Jordan_E

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I was always a fan of Carpenter's ELVIS. Russell brings a certain "jerkiness" to his Elvis, but it's MUCH better than others since! And that final shot of him in the karate pose while the song plays is great. I'd buy right away.
 

Andrew Radke

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I've never seen this film, so I'll definitely pick this up. I would REALLY love to see "This Is Elvis" make its debut on DVD. I swear, I've worn out the VHS from watching it so many times. Same goes for the 80's mini-series "Elvis & Me" which takes up 3 VHS tapes. I'd love to have these on DVD.
 

Drew Mertz

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Great News! I love John Carpenter's movies, have them all. This is the only one I have yet to see. I'm not an Elvis fan but that won't stop me from finally seeing this movie. I just hope whomever is putting out the DVD will be able to get Kurt and John together for a nice commentary track. Hell while there at it they can complete the circle and do one for Escape from LA too.

Either way its nice to see this will finally be available to own on DVD!
 

PatH

Second Unit
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Apr 4, 2004
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Michael Allred:

Thanks for your honesty, but is there any way you can find out?

PatH
 

TravisR

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I don't think it came out. I can't even find any listing of it on any site but Amazon (and "Shipping in 4 to 6 Weeks" seems more like "We don't know what's happening with it" than a real estimate). It's tough to sift through all the Elvis titles to try to find it but I checked half a dozen sites and got no listing from any of them.
 

Michael Allred

Screenwriter
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You know, I'm kinda surprised there hasn't been a bigger response to the announcement of the DVD release (March 2nd from Shout Factory) on here.
 

MarkBirds

Stunt Coordinator
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Sep 30, 2003
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180
Picked this up at BB today. This is by far the longest wait for a movie for me ever. I actually forgot about it.
 

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