Tag: Julia Roberts

‘Ticket to Paradise’ Available for Non-Premium Digital Purchase and Streaming Dec. 9, on Disc Dec. 13

The rom-com Ticket to Paradise will be available for regular (not premium) digital purchase Dec. 9, and on Blu-ray and DVD Dec. 13 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

The film will also be available to stream on Peacock Dec. 9.

Ticket to Paradise stars Academy Award winners Julia Roberts and George Clooney as exes who find themselves on a shared mission: to stop their lovestruck daughter from making the same mistake they once made.

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Special features on DVD, Blu-ray and digital include:

  • “Return of the Dynamic Duo,” a  featurette celebrating the big screen return of Roberts and Clooney;
  • “Destination Wedding,” about the details of the wedding in the film;
  • “Production in Paradise,” about everything from Balinese marriage customs to filming in the Whitsundays; and
  • “Keep a Straight Face,” featuring real life pals Kaitlyn Dever and Billie Lourd as they try not to distract each other while filming.

‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ Headed to 4K Ultra HD Dec. 13

The Julia Roberts classic My Best Friend’s Wedding is being released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Dec. 13 for its 25th anniversary from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett star in the 1997 romantic comedy. Roberts is commitment-shy Jules Potter, who reluctantly realizes she is in love with her best friend Michael (Mulroney). There is just one catch: he’s about to marry someone else. Comically crazed and full of devious plans, Jules will do anything to steal him back — except tell him the simple truth.

The film is remastered in 4K resolution from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio plus original theatrical 5.1.

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Special features include nearly 20 minutes of newly released deleted scenes; a newly released alternate ending; “On the Set: My Best Friend’s Wedding“; “My Best Friend’s Wedding Album”; “Wedding Do’s & Don’ts”; “Unveiled: My Best Friend’s Wedding“; the “Say a Little Prayer for You” sing-along; and the theatrical trailer.

The 4K UHD release does not include a Blu-ray and includes digital for a limited time.

‘Flatliners’ on 4K, Hong Kong Action Collection Due on Blu-ray in August From Arrow and MVD

The 1990 science-fiction thriller Flatliners and the “Running Out of Time Collection” of Hong Kong action are being released on Blu-ray in August from Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment Group.

Known for his eclectic filmography and for helping to launch the careers of several young Hollywood stars of the ’80s and ’90s, Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, St. Elmo’s Fire) tackles the question of what happens after death in Flatliners, due Aug. 2 on both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Disc. The film, which stars Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt, follows five ambitious medical students who subject themselves to a daring experiment, temporarily inducing their own deaths, hoping to glimpse the afterlife before being brought back to life. As competition within the group intensifies and their visions of the world beyond increasingly bleed into their waking lives, they learn that the greatest threat comes not from the spirit world but from the long-suppressed secrets of their own pasts. Each release features a new 4K restoration from the original negative, approved by the director of photography Jan de Bont (Basic Instinct). First pressings will include an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Amanda Reyes and Peter Tonguette.

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Next, on Aug.30, Arrow will bow the “Running Out of Time Collection” on Blu-ray. The two-disc set includes two Hong Kong action thrillers from director Johnnie To. In 1999’s Running Out of Time, Andy Lau stars as a cancer-ridden criminal who challenges a police negotiator (Lau Ching-wan) to a 72-hour battle of wits and courage. The film earned six nominations at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards including Best Film and Best Director. For his performance as the complicated criminal, Lau took home the award for Best Actor. Two years later, Ching-wan returned to the role of Inspector Ho Sheung Sang in the 2001 sequel Running Out of Time 2. In this go-around, Ching-wan battles wits with a clever criminal (Ekin Cheng) that has plans to extort money from a wealthy businesswoman (Kelly Lin). Running Out of Time 2 earned five Golden Horse Awards nominations, including wins for Best Action Choreography and Best Film Editing. Special features include new audio commentary tracks for each film with Hong Kong film expert Frank Djeng and the 2003 documentary Hong Kong Stories.

Family Drama ‘Wonder’ Due in Target Exclusive Blu-ray Steelbook Nov. 16

Lionsgate will release the family drama Wonder in a Target exclusive Blu-ray Steelbook Nov. 16.

The real Auggie Pullman (photo from August Pullman Twitter account)

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Wonder follows the story of the Pullman family, whose youngest child, Auggie, is a boy born with a facial deformity, a combination of Treacher Collins syndrome and a hemifacial microsomia. When Auggie enters mainstream elementary school for the first time, his extraordinary journey in the fifth grade at Beecher Prep unites his family, his school and his community.

Nominated for the 2017 Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling award, the film stars Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. The release features all new artwork from artist Flore Maquin.

Special features include a commentary track, several featurettes and a music video.

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‘Instant Family’ Tops Redbox Charts

Paramount’s Instant Family fostered a win on both Redbox charts the week ended March 10.

The family comedy, starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne, took the No. 1 spot on both the Redbox kiosk chart, which tracks DVD and Blu-ray Disc rentals at the company’s more than 40,000 red vending machines, and the Redbox On Demand chart, which tracks transactional video-on-demand (TVOD), both electronic sellthrough (EST) and streaming. It was new-to-disc for the week, streeting March 5.

Warner’s boxing drama Creed II, also released on disc March 5, took the No. 2 spot on both charts.

Oscar-lauded films made several appearances on the Redbox charts. Disney’s sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet, which was nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar, remained at No. 3 on the disc chart, the same spot it held the previous week. The music drama A Star Is Born — which garnered an Academy Award for Best Original Song and picked up eight nominations, including nods for Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga — dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 on the disc chart, and from No. 1 to No. 3 on the digital side. Bohemian Rhapsody slipped from No. 2 to No. 5 on the disc chart, and from No. 2 to No. 4 on the digital chart. The film, about the life of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, won Academy Awards for Best Actor for Rami Malek, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.

Three other new disc releases entered the top 10. In the eighth spot was Lionsgate’s Ben Is Back, starring Julia Roberts as a desperate mother with a troubled son. At No. 9 was Fox’s The Favourite, which earned a surprise Best Actress Oscar for Olivia Colman. And landing at No. 10 was the Lionsgate thriller The Vanishing, starring Gerard Butler.

Ben Is Back (No. 8) and The Favourite (No. 7) also placed on the digital chart.

Lionsgate’s Robin Hood held strong on both charts, placing No. 6 (from No. 4 the previous week) on the disc chart and No. 6 (from No. 3) on the digital chart.

Meanwhile, Universal’s Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch settled at No. 7 (from No. 5) on the disc chart.

Sony’s Venom, which debuted on digital late last year, made an appearance on the digital chart at No. 5 — perhaps boosted by anticipation for the latest superhero movie hitting theaters, Captain Marvel.

 

Top DVD and Blu-ray Disc Rentals, Redbox Kiosks, Week Ended March 10:

  1. Instant Family (New) — Paramount
  2. Creed II (New) — Warner
  3. Ralph Breaks the Internet — Disney
  4. A Star Is Born (2018) — Warner
  5. Bohemian Rhapsody — Fox
  6. Robin Hood (2018) — Lionsgate
  7. Seuss’ The Grinch — Universal
  8. Ben Is Back (New) — Lionsgate
  9. The Favourite (New) — Fox
  10. The Vanishing (2019) (New)— Lionsgate

Top Digital, Redbox On Demand, Week Ended March 10:

  1. Instant Family — Paramount
  2. Creed II — Warner
  3. A Star Is Born (2018) — Warner
  4. Bohemian Rhapsody — Fox
  5. Venom (2018) — Sony
  6. Robin Hood (2018) — Lionsgate
  7. The Favourite — Fox
  8. Ben Is Back — Lionsgate
  9. Nobody’s Fool (2018) — Paramount
  10. The Possession of Hannah Grace — Sony

Julia Roberts Drama ‘Ben Is Back’ Due on Digital Feb. 19, Disc March 5

Ben Is Back, starring Julia Roberts, will come out on digital 4K Ultra HD Feb. 19 and on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and digital), DVD and on demand March 5 from Lionsgate.

In Ben Is Back, Roberts plays a mother swept into a race against time after her troubled 19-year-old son (Lucas Hedges) returns home for Christmas — and suddenly disappears. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed and her love is tested.

Special features include an audio commentary with writer-director Peter Hedges and a photo gallery.

‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ No. 1 for Second Straight Week on Digital Originals Chart

“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” remained No. 1 on the digital originals chart for the second consecutive week, despite a drop in Demand Expressions by more than 11% during the week that ended Nov. 10, according to Parrot Analytics.

The reboot – which is much darker than the original, comedic “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” – captured the top chart position the previous week in the wake of its Oct. 26 Netflix debut. The number of Demand Expressions for “Sabrina” slipped to 55.7 million from 62.9 million the prior week.

Demand Expressions is a proprietary metric used by Parrot Analytics to measure global demand for TV content. The metric draws from a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites.

“Stranger Things,” also from Netflix, rose a notch to No. 2 with a modest gain in demand of less than 4%, swapping places with  “Marvel’s Daredevil,” which slipped to No. 3 after a 14.5% drop in demand.

“House of Cards,” the first Netflix digital original, shot up to No. 4 from No. 10 the previous week in its first full week of availability, with a 56.3% spike in demand. Season 6 of the political drama – the first without star Kevin Spacey, whose career was derailed by a sexual abuse scandal – debuted Nov. 2. Netflix has already announced Season 6 will be the series’ last.

Also soaring up the charts was Amazon Prime Video’s “Homecoming,” which driven by a 45.4% gain in Demand Expressions debuted on the digital originals chart at No. 7.

The series launched on Amazon Nov. 3 and marks Julia Roberts’ television series debut; the series is based on a podcast of the same name.

Rounding out the top five on the digital originals chart was “The Haunting of Hill House,” which slid a notch from No. 4 the prior week after a 14.5% drop in demand.

A “digital original” is a multi-episode series in which the most recent season was first made available on a streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu.

Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” reappeared in the top 10, at No. 9, with a 4.1% bump in demand.

Media Play News has teamed with Parrot Analytics to provide readers with a weekly top 10 of the most popular digital original TV series in the United States, based on the firm’s  proprietary metric called Demand Expressions, which measures global demand for TV content through a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites.

Lionsgate Posts 10% Drop in Q2 Home Entertainment Revenue

Lionsgate Nov. 8 reported second-quarter (ended Sept. 30) home entertainment revenue of $149.6 million from the sales of DVD/Blu-ray Disc and electronic sellthrough of movies, which is down 10% from revenue of $165.7 million during the previous-year period.

Home entertainment sales of television content topped $28.6 million, down about 5% from $29.9% last year.

Through the first six months, home entertainment sales of movies are down 22% to $312.3 million from $399.7 million last year. TV revenue declined 36% to $46.7 million from $72.5 million.

Top-selling titles include Wonder, which as sold $23.3 million in 1.5 million combined DVD/Blu-ray Disc units, and I Can Only Imagine, selling $20.3 million via 1.2 million discs, according to The-Numbers.com.

Motion picture segment quarterly revenue decreased 2% to $379 million. Segment profit increased 45% to $12.9 million, reflecting strong ancillary performance of previously-released theatrical titles.

TV production revenue fell 28% to $152.1 million from $211.2 million last year.

For the fiscal year, motion picture revenue dropped nearly 14% to $744.3 million from $858 million. TV revenue fell 8% to $431.5 million from $472.4 million.

 

Amazon Q3 ‘Stores’ Revenue Up 10%

Amazon Oct. 25 reported third-quarter (ended Sept. 30) online store sales of $29 billion, up 10% from sales of $26.3 billion during the previous-year period. Physical store (two locations) sales topped $4.2 million from $1.3 million.

The ecommerce behemoth says online stores revenue includes product sales, physical and digital media, such as books, music, videos, games, and software. This includes digital products sold on a transactional basis such as Amazon Instant Video.

Separately, Amazon said the second season of “NFL Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video reaching more than 8 million combined viewers worldwide through the first four games on Prime Video and Twitch.

Amazon this season added a new alternative audio feed featuring sports journalists Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer, the first-ever all-female sportscasting team to call NFL games. In addition, Amazon is bringing interactivity to TNF with several innovations, including “X-Ray for TNF” on FireTV, enabling viewers to access live stats, player information, and in-app shopping; as well as the “TNF on Twitch,” affording global users interactive access to watch, comment, and predict game outcomes.

In addition, Prime Video debuted original series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “The Romanoffs,” and season 3 of “The Man in the High Castle.” Upcoming original series include “Homecoming,” a psychological thriller starring Julia Roberts, and produced and directed by Sam Esmail; as well as season 2 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” recent winner of eight Emmy awards including Outstanding Comedy Series.

 

 

Spielberg’s ‘Hook’ Coming to 4K UHD Oct. 9 From Sony

Hook, Steven Spielberg’s update on the tale of Peter Pan, debuts on 4K Ultra HD and digital in 4K with high dynamic range Oct. 9 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Starring Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Robin Williams as Peter, Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell, Bob Hoskins as Smee and Maggie Smith as Wendy, Hook was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1991. The story follows an adult Peter Pan as he returns to Neverland to reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy Captain Hook, who has kidnaped his children.

Hook has been restored in 4K from the original camera negative, with approval on the 4K HDR master from director Steven Spielberg, according to the studio. It also features Dolby Atmos audio.

Bonus features include 11 never-before-seen deleted scenes.