Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

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kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Fox Classics on Blu

#51 Post by kingofthejungle » Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:58 pm

domino harvey wrote:It's just leveling off-- DVDs started out expensive and used to have a much higher monetary value than they do now. I was searching for something on this forum and pulled up an old DeepDiscount/DVDPlanet 20% off sale post and it's amazing how much we were all willing to pay even five years ago compared to now
You have a good point. Every once in a while you can catch classics on Blu at a very reasonable price (the recent Selznick/Hitchcocks for example), so I guess there is some positive movement in the market. It's easy to get pessimistic when I'm routinely paying as much or more for domestic releases than those I import from another continent!
knives wrote:Also many Twilight Time discs are premiers which I think should count for a little leeway, I'm comfortable waiting out with my present edition of The Grapes of Wrath until the end of time if the prices stay at this level. A year from now though it should be easy to get them cheaper on the market place though. Also possibly this is like the Best Buy situation where it becomes un-exclusive after awhile.
I wish I could have your patience. Waiting is the rational thing to do, but Grapes of Wrath is one of the titles I've wanted in hi-def since the advent of the format. The Fordian long shot is what convinced me of the necessity of Blu-Ray in the first place. I hope I at least get one of the free magnets so I have a fig-leaf of a justification when I see these on the shelves for $14.99. :-&

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knives
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Re: Fox Classics on Blu

#52 Post by knives » Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:20 am

With the exception of the Gorins I have the patience of a sloth.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Fox Classics on Blu

#53 Post by Jeff » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:34 am

Based on a couple of comments on their Facebook page, it's pretty clear that the guys at Twilight Time aren't happy about this, and are concerned about how it affects their business model and access to future titles.

AfterTheRain
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:42 pm

Re: Fox/MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#54 Post by AfterTheRain » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:08 am

I seriously do not like this at all. IMHO, I think it's pointless to shell out thirty bucks plus shipping for these titles when they could be sold at retail as exclusives for a fraction of the cost.

djvaso
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#55 Post by djvaso » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:03 pm

I would opt for these beautiful French releases which will be available in June.

Planete HD News

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John Hodson
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Re: Fox/MGM Catalog Titles on Blu

#56 Post by John Hodson » Thu Mar 15, 2012 3:48 pm

AfterTheRain wrote:I seriously do not like this at all. IMHO, I think it's pointless to shell out thirty bucks plus shipping for these titles when they could be sold at retail as exclusives for a fraction of the cost.
It's trading on the Screen Archives / Twilight Time business model. There will be some who will be prepared to pay a premium to get these titles ahead of the pack. Plus that all important fridge magnet must surely clinch the deal?

If enough bite, we'll see more of this, and not just from Fox.

Me? Vive la France!!

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captveg
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Re: Fox Classics on Blu

#57 Post by captveg » Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:04 pm

Jeff wrote:Based on a couple of comments on their Facebook page, it's pretty clear that the guys at Twilight Time aren't happy about this, and are concerned about how it affects their business model and access to future titles.
I would think it would be the opposite - won't having more name recognizable titles exclusive to Screen Archives bring possible new customers to TT?

Say I'm someone who loves The Grapes of Wrath and finds out I can get it on Blu-ray at this one website. I go to the website, look around a bit, and find that they have a few catalog exclusives that sound interesting enough to possibly order at the same time, like Rapture.

If I was TT, I'd consider these Fox titles as "loss leader" for their "store".

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domino harvey
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#58 Post by domino harvey » Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:56 pm

Apparently these ship in April but street nationally in June-- so you're paying a premium for a three-month window

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Jeff
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#59 Post by Jeff » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:32 pm

domino harvey wrote:Apparently these ship in April but street nationally in June-- so you're paying a premium for a three-month window
Yeah, they've quietly reworded the post on the SAE main page from yesterday and eliminated the word "exclusive". It now reads:
Screen Archives announces two new Blu-ray releases from 20th Century Fox starting with THE GRAPES OF WRATH and ZORBA THE GREEK! Ships 4/3/12. National street date 6/5/12. All 20th Century Fox releases will feature extras and commentary!
Two month window. What a silly scheme. I'll pay $15 at Amazon for these in a few months.

AfterTheRain
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#60 Post by AfterTheRain » Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:22 am

Okay, that's much different. For a second, I thought I was going to have a coronary yesterday when I read about this.

member24958
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Re: Fox Classics on Blu

#61 Post by member24958 » Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:03 am

captveg wrote:If I was TT, I'd consider these Fox titles as "loss leader" for their "store".
I wonder why they don't attempt to reach more attractive licensing arrangements with someone like Sony? It appears as though Sony is providing access to titles like Fright Night and As Good As It Gets in part due to the same "loss leader" mentality in order to offset titles that don't sell as much or quickly (TT mentioned Fright Night didn't originally interest them and weren't sure if it was something that fit the model they had in mind but I imagine that changed quickly when it became apparent how titles like those benefit the line as a whole).

That TT is licensing things up front and requires, based on what I thought others said they have been quoted saying, that they sell somewhere around 2000 copies to break even on their costs, that model and price point only works when they consistently sell more than that amount and in a decent time frame.

I can see why it works well for Sony, quicker money/less effort, and toss in a title here and there (that would have to sell closer to 5 figures via traditional retail methods to recoup the amount of upfront licensing fees they are offering them at anyway) that ensures a quicker max amount of sales in order to keep the arrangement going but it seems like a counterproductive arrangement for TT and customers.

TT absorbs more risk than others seem to have licensing arrangements at (presumably anyway since a number of other licensed titles, from everything to very low profile to cult to higher profile titles seem to be routinely be made available via other distributors, retailers, etc. without the limited sales model and MSRP only pricing) and they then need to increase typical end customer price points in order to ensure the model long term.

Which perhaps is the point. Studios like Sony aren't losing anything in the short term but are also attempting to train customers of higher price points in order to solidify things like future tiered streaming options or $5 streaming rentals. Kind of like what is going on at Walmart. Bring discs in and for $2-$5 then can access owned disc titles online. $1-2 rentals or ~$20 per month all in one plans might be an obstacle to that success.

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kingofthejungle
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#62 Post by kingofthejungle » Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:13 pm

Two months? That's ridiculous. I won't fall for that one again. I can't imagine this would be that profitable a strategy considering that everyone knows it's only a two month wait now. At least I ordered it along with Picnic and used the $10 off code, so I'll only wind up overpaying by about $5.

Twilight Time should breathe easier now. Since these aren't true exclusive releases, I can't imagine they'll be too much competition to TT's bottom line.

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manicsounds
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Filmmakers Signature Series

#63 Post by manicsounds » Fri Mar 23, 2012 1:05 am

Image Image

Image Image

So far these 4 are the first ones available, and only at Best Buy stores in the US. Filmmaker approved transfers, and in the case of "Wall Street" and "French Connection", are different transfers from the old discs.

"French Connection" is drastically different, looking closer to the DVD color scheme, but loses out 2 extras from the previous release.

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Finch
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Re: Filmmakers Signature Series

#64 Post by Finch » Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:17 am

The new transfer for Patton that Fox have promised/announced is probably going to be released under this banner, I'd have thought.

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manicsounds
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Re: Filmmakers Signature Series

#65 Post by manicsounds » Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:08 am

Probably not "Patton", because whose signature would they use? They can't say 'approved by Franklin J Schaffner' as he's passed away.

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Brian C
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Re: Filmmakers Signature Series

#66 Post by Brian C » Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:52 am

Didn't stop Warners after Kubrick died!

Schaffner died in 1989, so ... nah, they won't re-use a master that old. It's not like they're Universal.

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Re: Filmmakers Signature Series

#67 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:38 pm

Does the Wall Street Blu contain any new features, or skip over previous ones?

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knives
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#68 Post by knives » Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:46 pm

Can anyone confirm that they're putting the '53 Titanic out next week? there seems to be a few articles out there, but no real confirmation.

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fdm
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#69 Post by fdm » Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:07 am

knives wrote:Can anyone confirm that they're putting the '53 Titanic out next week? there seems to be a few articles out there, but no real confirmation.
Cancelled.

(Edit: Wondered if it had been grabbed as an exclusive by somebody...)
Last edited by fdm on Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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eerik
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#70 Post by eerik » Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:32 am

knives wrote:Can anyone confirm that they're putting the '53 Titanic out next week? there seems to be a few articles out there, but no real confirmation.
Yes, but it's Best Buy exclusive for the time being. Wide release will most likely follow in a few months.

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Jeff
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#71 Post by Jeff » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:24 am

Screen Archives has dropped the price on The Grapes of Wrath and Zorba the Greek to $24.95 each.

EDIT: Both are now also available for pre-order at Amazon for $20.99 each.

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manicsounds
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#72 Post by manicsounds » Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:12 am

"Titanic" (1953) BD is available from Europe and the UK, region free.

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Drucker
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#73 Post by Drucker » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:24 pm

I bought a copy of the French Connection and it does look great the little I've watched. I do have one question though: on anybody else's copy, did it have the chapter timeline pop up at the beginning of each chapter? That's happening to me, and I'm not sure how to turn it off (it's different than the pop-up menu)

I'll also point out that while at the NYC Best Buy near where I work (43rd/5th) there are dozens of copies of Wall Street and the other movies, I bought the last (and only copy I ever saw) copy of French Connection. It's also backordered on Best Buy.com. I don't know what kind of runs they do, but if you're like me and err on the side of caution, get it while they last if you see it!

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#74 Post by Grand Wazoo » Sat Apr 14, 2012 11:18 pm

Drucker wrote:I'll also point out that while at the NYC Best Buy near where I work (43rd/5th) there are dozens of copies of Wall Street and the other movies, I bought the last (and only copy I ever saw) copy of French Connection. It's also backordered on Best Buy.com. I don't know what kind of runs they do, but if you're like me and err on the side of caution, get it while they last if you see it!
Wow, that's the same location I purchased mine two weeks ago, and there must have been about 30-40 copies stuffed into the rack at the time (the rest of the rack, and pretty much the entire dvd/blu section aside from these and the new Wall Streets was in utter disarray). I guess word spread quickly about this new transfer.

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captveg
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Re: Fox Catalog Titles on Blu

#75 Post by captveg » Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:38 pm

It was about this time last month that the Screen Archives two 2-month exclusive titles were revealed for April. Wonder if we'll get two more in May like they alluded to?

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