Magic (1978) - Anthony Hopkins - NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! SEE POST #27 (1 Viewer)

[Steven Lapcevic]

I was watching the film "Magic" on AMC Friday evening and noticed the Paramount Pictures logo before and after the film. I'm assuming that this means that Paramount now holds the rights to this film. If this is the case, has anyone heard anything about a possible DVD release in the future? Thanks!

 

[jonathan_little]

I didn't see it on AMC last night, but it still might be owned by 20th Century Fox since Varese Sarabande recently released Jerry Goldsmith's score and it's copyright Fox. Perhaps Paramount owns TV distribution rights?

 

[Jon Martin]

I don't know who owns the rights, but it had a very odd video release a few years ago. Some no name video company released it on VHS, only they released the edited TV print. It was several minutes shorter and had all the language edited out. They later announced a DVD release that never materialized since I guess they realized they didn't have the rights to do that.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jon is right.

MAGIC was supposed to be out on DVD four years ago.

There was a release date set, and suddenly, it
just disappeared.

Been patiently waiting for this one.

 

[Jo_C]

For the record,

While 20th Century Fox does hold the music rights, StudioCanal holds the underlying rights as it was a Joseph E. Levine presentation, which would make either MGM or Anchor Bay Entertainment the video rights holders (Embassy originally had the video rights). Paramount/Viacom holds the television rights.

I hope I made that clear. If I'm wrong, let me know...

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I'm eagerly awaiting this one as well. Great flick.

Does anyone recall the creepy television ads that came out to promote this movie back when it was first released? It consisted of nothing more than the dummy (without the ventriloquist) reciting some strange poem that ended "Magic is fun! We are dead." As a young boy I remember it really freaking me out for some reason.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Mark,

Your memory serves you well.

I remember those ads.

Let's hope MGM doesn't get a hold of this release
for we'll never see this film anamorphic widescreen
nor with those included ads.

 

[Jae E]

Abracadabra, I sit on his knee.

Presto Change-o, and now he is me.

Hocus Pocus, we take her to bed.

Magic is fun.

We are dead.

 

[David Lambert]

Oh, Lord! I remember that one!

 

[Scott Shanks]

Wow! What's MGM done?

 

[Dan DRC]

Funny how when I saw the title of this thread my first thought was about the creepy tv add. They don't make them like that anymore.

 

[Henry Gale]

Some..company released... the...TV print. It...had all the language edited....

Well, there was a great opporfuckintunity lost.

 

[Steven Lapcevic]

It's worth noting that the version of the film that AMC aired was intact save for the overdubs necessary to cover up explicit language. The previous edit mentioned above, which is still floating around on VHS, has whole chunks of scenes missing (I'm assuming this was done to cut down the running time). I will be sorely disappointed if the television ad isn't contained on an eventual DVD release. It's one of my most horrifying childhood memories!

 

[Anthony_H]

Sure about the release year? This one ties in my ALIEN story..('79)(reference in another thread).. narrowly avoided that one (regret it to this day) only to run into the MAGIC poster on the way to a potty break during MEATBALLS. Only a picture of the dummy. The fact that I still remember 24 years later should be an indication of how quickly I ran back to my mommy's arms... legs akimbo...urine trailing behind. That and the flash EXORCIST trailer are neck and neck in regards to scarring experiences..


A.T.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I will be sorely disappointed if the television ad isn't contained on an eventual DVD release. It's one of my most horrifying childhood memories!

Wow...when I made my original comments about the television ad I had no idea there were others who were creeped out like me. I was nine years old at the time and the image of that dummy saying "we are dead" is still burned into my brain nearly a quarter of a century later. That's what I call effective marketing.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i vaugly remember that tv ad, i recall it being up at the theaters around the same time as Superman, around Dec. '78.
i could have sworn i saw the ad in the newspaper the same time.
we got HBO in the late summer/early fall of '79 and i think a few months later they ran it.
that was the first time i got a chance to see it.
i remember think what a great scary movie it was, Hopkins being so sympathetic and yet creepy at the same time, and then there was a good, brief bare boob shot of Ann Margret.
just the kind of thing a growing boy needs.
and The Penguin was in it too.

i would love to buy this movie, if the a/v is up to snuff.
and of course that tv commercial would sweeten the deal.

 

[Chas_Michael]

I wonder what ever happened to "Fats"? Could Anthony Hopkins have him? I'd love to see a full blow 2 Dvd set with Outakes, Making of Fats, Ventriloquist Documentary etc. It could be jammed packed!

 

[Brian W.]

Does anyone recall the creepy television ads that came out to promote this movie back when it was first released?

Ohhh, yes, I remember them all right. Scared the living shit out of me when I was a kid, almost as much as the "Beyond the Door" television ads. Haven't seen them since the film was first released, but I've never forgotten that creepy little dummy staring straight into the camera, reciting the rhyme as the camera slowly zooms into his face:

Abracadabra, I sit on his knee,
Presto, chango, and now he is me!
Hocus, Pocus, we take her to bed
Magic is fun...
[eyes snap shut]
We're dead.
{creepy music as his eyes slowly open)

See? 25 years later I still remember the rhyme. Eeeesh!

 

[John Hodson]

From www.dvddrive-in-com :

Dark Sky Films, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MPI Home Video, is a new label whose mission is “to deliver the highest quality in classic horror, grindhouse, oddities and 'lost' films to fans of the more eclectic genres of home entertainment.” On August 30, Dark Sky will release the German thriller, THE COLLEGE GIRL MURDERS (1967), based on a story by Edgar Wallace. “The groovalicious swingin' '60s, complete with miniskirts and high-hopped hairdos, sets the stage for a red-robed monk and his killer whip in The College Girl Murders.” Other upcoming releases include such cult favorites as WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS, TERROR BENEATH THE SEA, THE FLESH EATERS (which will no longer be issued by Retromedia), HORROR OF PARTY BEACH, CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE, PSYCHOMANIA (aka VIOLENT MIDNIGHT), MAGIC (1978), and others. More information to follow as it develops.

Not much to go on, but nonetheless, it's there...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Hm, which one of the things in that list is not like the others? Sounds like someone skating on thin rights ice. But if no one seems to claim it, maybe they're safe.