Criterion U.K.

[dwk]

I wonder if Criterion UK are only releasing the 4K UHD 'Dual Format' edition to see how well it sells compared to other releases (they offered UHD+BD and regular BD releases for all the other recent 4K titles; including Thelma & Louise which was MGM-licensed, as Raging Bull was). Maybe they're not seeing the uplift in sales they were expecting and are trying to streamline the UK output. I feel like anything could change with them at this point, and one day they could just stop UHD in the UK altogether...
.....
Ah, interesting - thanks! I was thinking of MGM specifically when I typed that, just didn't realise it was only them doing it. I don't think they're doing that over here though as the titles I mentioned have been both UHD and Blu-ray (either in a Dual Format set or separate editions, if you look at recent 4K releases from Criterion, Arrow, Eureka and Capelight).

It could be a test to see if people are willing to just pick up the dual-format UHD/Blu-ray set. Or it could be licensing related, in the US, The Ranown Westerns are only available in the dual-format UHD/Blu-ray box and that strikes me as something that could be licensing related as Mill Creek released those on Blu-ray.

I know that MGM had kind of stopped licensing in the UK for awhile, and since they started again, they may have abandoned doing separate deals for UHD and Blu-ray. Those titles that Criterion released on Blu-ray and Kino on UHD were big enough that it is possible that MGM initially intended to release the UHDs themselves and thus excluded them from the deal with Criterion and later changed their minds and offered them to Kino for licensing so many lesser titles.

[rapta]

I wonder if Criterion UK are only releasing the 4K UHD 'Dual Format' edition to see how well it sells compared to other releases (they offered UHD+BD and regular BD releases for all the other recent 4K titles; including Thelma & Louise which was MGM-licensed, as Raging Bull was). Maybe they're not seeing the uplift in sales they were expecting and are trying to streamline the UK output. I feel like anything could change with them at this point, and one day they could just stop UHD in the UK altogether...
.....
Ah, interesting - thanks! I was thinking of MGM specifically when I typed that, just didn't realise it was only them doing it. I don't think they're doing that over here though as the titles I mentioned have been both UHD and Blu-ray (either in a Dual Format set or separate editions, if you look at recent 4K releases from Criterion, Arrow, Eureka and Capelight).

It could be a test to see if people are willing to just pick up the dual-format UHD/Blu-ray set. Or it could be licensing related, in the US, The Ranown Westerns are only available in the dual-format UHD/Blu-ray box and that strikes me as something that could be licensing related as Mill Creek released those on Blu-ray.

I know that MGM had kind of stopped licensing in the UK for awhile, and since they started again, they may have abandoned doing separate deals for UHD and Blu-ray. Those titles that Criterion released on Blu-ray and Kino on UHD were big enough that it is possible that MGM initially intended to release the UHDs themselves and thus excluded them from the deal with Criterion and later changed their minds and offered them to Kino for licensing so many lesser titles.

I imagine it's probably the former, since as I said before, Thelma & Louise was also from MGM and they happily released both dual format UHD+BD and separate Blu-ray editions for that (and all other 4K titles, for that matter). I hadn't noticed Mill Creek had only released those Boetticher films just two years before Criterion...that does strike me as a bit odd for Sony, but yeah maybe that was agreed for the 4K bump. Either that or Mill Creek actually licensed them a few years before they actually released them, and their license expired a couple of years after releasing their set? Who knows...

Good point about the MGM situation Stateside, that would make sense that they probably kept 4K out of the initial Criterion license and later sold them to Kino Lorber instead (though I'm sure a lot of money was involved in that decision). Paramount and Warner Bros have been doing similar things with these labels too, but actually releasing some of them in 4K themselves.

[dwk]

Mill Creek seem to have not have any problem with titles they've licensed getting released by other boutiques which makes me wonder if their deal with Sony is nonexclusive. It really is two different markets.

[dwk]

June titles are
Slacker
Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène

[rapta]

Both titles I actually want! Great news. Tempted to pre-order the Sembene set in particular...it's obviously quite pricy but I'm really up for seeing more of his work.

[dwk]

July
Le Samourai UHD
Blow Out UHD
Risky Business UHD and Blu-ray editions