Lucasfilm and Marvel have painted a bullseye on your bank account this holiday by announcing new Collector's Editions with Steelbook packaging for many of its original series, including The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Hawkeye, and Loki. All four releases come with stylish Steelbook packaging, exclusive concept art cards, and never-before-seen bonus content, making them an absolute must-have for fans to add to their collection. The titles, all to be released on December 3, 2024, are Star Wars: The Mandalorian -- The Complete Third Season, Star Wars: Ahsoka -- The Complete First Season, Marvel Studios' Hawkeye -- The Complete First Season, Marvel Studios' Loki -- The Complete Second Season. Pre-orders for all sets begin on October 31, 2024!

Details for all four sets are included below:

!Collector's Edition, Lucasfilm, The Mandalorian

Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season

SYNOPSIS

The journeys of the Mandalorian through the Star Wars galaxy continue. Once a lone bounty hunter, Din Djarin has reunited with Grogu. Meanwhile, the New Republic struggles to lead the galaxy away from its dark history. The Mandalorian will cross paths with old allies and make new enemies as he and Grogu continue their journey together.

BONUS FEATURES

• Honoring the Magistrate: A Tribute to Carl Weathers --- Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni pay tribute to Carl Weathers, the unforgettable talent behind Greef Karga.
• Galactic Legacy: The Creatures and Droids of The Mandalorian --- Discover the secrets of Season Three's memorable creatures and droids with the artists who bring them to life.
• Forging the Covert: Part Three --- Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and the filmmakers explore the expanding world of Season Three's Mandalorian warriors.

!Ahsoka, Lucasfilm, Collector's Edition

Star Wars: Ahsoka -- The Complete First Season

SYNOPSIS

Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.

BONUS FEATURES

• **Ahsoka: Legacy **--- Join cast and crew for a look at developing Ahsoka's live-action series.
• **Path of the Apprentice **--- Explore the dynamic of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka within the world between worlds.
• **Ghosts of the Past **--- Go deep with a spotlight on Ahsoka's allies: Sabine, Hera, Ezra, and Chopper.
• **Darkness Rising **--- Uncover the secrets of Ahsoka's foes.

!

Marvel Studios' Hawkeye: The Complete First Season

SYNOPSIS

Marvel Studios' Hawkeye is an original series set in post-blip New York City where former Avenger Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) has a seemingly simple mission: get back to his family for Christmas. But when a threat from his past shows up, Hawkeye reluctantly teams up with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) -- a 22-year-old skilled archer and his biggest fan -- to unravel a criminal conspiracy.

BONUS FEATURES

• **A Tale of Two Hawkeyes **--- Discover how the cast and crew extended the Hawkeye legacy, bringing together Clint Barton and new character Kate Bishop.
• **Gag Reel **--- Take a look at some of the hilarious outtakes on set with the cast and crew of Hawkeye.
• Deleted Scenes
  • Follow the Trail --- Young Kate leaves behind clues for a scavenger hunt.
  • At The Stake --- Clint reluctantly celebrates with a group of fans in the city.
  • **Burning of the Suit **--- Clint burns the Ronin suit.
  • Kate's First Day at Work --- Kate uses her awkward first day at work to her advantage.
  • **Ice Cream **--- Little Maya finds out her dad can't pick her up from practice.
  • **Detour **--- Clint and Kate find an unmarked car in front of her apartment.
  • **Friends? **--- Little Maya and Little Kazi meet for the first time when their fathers do business together.
  • **You Never Miss **--- Clint's relationship with his mom is revealed through childhood memories. Clint and his mom attempt to rob a convenience store, which ends up a disaster.
  • Moira Comes Home --- Moira chases Clint and Kate out of her apartment.
  • **Old Friend **--- Clint prepares a familiar weapon.
  • **Sorry **--- Maya and Clint have a moment of understanding after a battle.
  • Until It's Done --- Eleanor takes a trip to have dinner. A shocking insight is revealed.
  • Boomerang --- Clint and Kate gather supplies at a sporting goods store to build trick arrows.
• Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye --- Peer behind the scenes of the show with Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, and the rest of the cast and crew.

!

Marvel Studios' Loki: The Complete Second Season

SYNOPSIS

Loki Season 2 picks up in the aftermath of the shocking season one finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius, Hunter B-15, and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie, Judge Renslayer, Miss Minutes, and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.

BONUS FEATURES

• **Loki Through Time **--- Travel through over a decade of Loki's timeline with Tom Hiddleston, Kevin Feige, and more as they dive deeper into the villainous yet lovable character that fans can't get enough of in the Loki series.
• **Gag Reel **--- Take a look at some of the fun moments on set with the cast and crew of Loki Season 2.
• Deleted/Extended Scenes
  • What Would You Like? --- Distraught after the events of season 1, Sylvie leaves the Citadel at the End of Time and finds an escape in a McDonald's in 1982.
  • **Key Lime Break **--- Loki and Mobius share a moment savoring a key lime pie in the TVA lunchroom.
  • **Roll Call **--- Loki names off all the people who have spoken ill of him in the past, including a few recognizable names. Mobius tries to comfort him.
• **Assembled: The Making of Loki Season 2 **--- Join the cast and crew of Loki Season 2 as they pull back the curtain on Loki's latest MCU adventure.

Interview highlights (Speed 3 comment was just a joke.)

Alien: Romulus was supposed to go straight to streaming, but that changed right before filming. So what prompted that change?

It was started as a streaming movie because we started development when we were in COVID and it wasn’t clear what our strategy was going to be theatrical or streaming. At the time we had different sorts of budget categories for streaming, which we were always circumspect about not wanting to spend too much money on streaming movies. We didn’t know quite yet how they would perform based on the metrics. And the truth is we started it hoping that theatrical would return to some measure of normal. But we made that film and, frankly, every other film we’ve made for streaming, with the same care and curation as we do our theatrical movies.

What’s the next step for Alien?

We’re working on a sequel idea now. We haven’t quite closed our deal with Fede [Alvarez], but we are going to, and he has an idea that we’re working on. The two survivors, Rain and Andy, played by Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson, were real highlights of the film. And so I always think of it like, “Wow, where do people want to see them go next?” We know there’s going to be aliens. We know there’s going to be great horror set pieces. But I fell in love with both of them and I want to see what their story is.

A Master and Commander prequel?

I’m trying so hard. It’s the first movie I worked on at Fox twenty years ago. We have a great script. It just needs the right director.

Here’s a big one. Will the next Predator movie get a theatrical release? [Editors note: this conversation took place before Disney dated Predator: Badlands for a 2025 release in theaters.]

Yes. And no.

You’re killing me here.

Yes, a Predator movie will have a theatrical. I’ll tell you very simply. After Prey became a success, Dan [Trachtenberg] came back and said he didn’t want to do Prey 2. And we’re like, “What do you want to do?” And he rattled off a bunch of ideas that were really crazy but really cool. We’ve actually done two of them. Two are coming out next year. One I can’t talk about yet, but the other one is the live-action Predator film with Elle Fanning that just wrapped in New Zealand. That’ll be out theatrically sometime next year.

You’re blowing my mind. Let’s tackle this one at time. One Predator movie is coming out theatrically?

It’s titled Badlands and it is an absolutely bonkers idea. It is a sci-fi thing, but it’s not what everybody thinks it is. And I mean, it’s awesome. It is so nuts. But in Dan, we trust.

Now you said there’s a second Predator movie.

There’s a second Predator movie that we have different plans for. Dan has actually directed both.

So there’s a secret Predator movie—

There’s a secret Predator movie that will come out before the theatrical one but I can’t say anything about yet.

Fine. Will we eventually see another Alien vs. Predator?

Probably.

Not sure how I feel about that.

It wouldn’t be in the way you think. That’s the thing. Not in the way that it will just be called Alien vs. Predator or anything like the original movies. If we do this, they’ll be organically created out of these two franchises that we’ve continued with characters that we fall in love with and those characters will combine…perhaps. But we haven’t gotten to that point. And we’re not just going to bang it out.

> It's time to talk about Fight Club

> This month marks 25 years since David Fincher's influential film arrived in theaters, and to celebrate, the filmmaker is overseeing a new 4K Ultra HD remaster of the New Regency and 20th Century Fox film. Fincher is also planning a theatrical re-release early next year, though details --- such as a date or the number of theaters --- are being kept under wraps.

> In addition, Fincher will release a 25th anniversary art book, including new interviews, rare behind-the-scenes material and unearthed visuals. The book arrives via Insight Editions and New Regency.

Count me in for the 4K and the book! Love this film!

As reported by the Digital Bits, Constantine (2005) is getting a 4K release at some point next year, it's 20th anniversary. It's listed on Amazon UK with a temporary release date of years end.

Once again, it's another 4K release in a fancy tin, posters and cards and they want £45 for it. Ouch.

The sequel is currently in development with the script apparently been finished a month or so ago.

> Campbell said, “We’re just developing it. So we are, but these are slow-motion, molasses processes, so it could be years away.”

> James Gunn shares the first image of the Man of Steel's crime-fighting canine companion, Krypto, for his anticipated Superman movie.

> While news of Ballerina's reshoots had been made transparent, it is now said that Stahelski would re-do most of the movie without Wiseman.

Two to three months of reshoots aren't reshoots, that's a new film! Lionsgate isn't having the best year.

> Disney has premiered the trailer for “TRON: Catalyst,” a new isometric video game set within the TRON universe that will release in 2025.

> Developed by Bithell Games, the title serves as a sequel to 2023’s visual novel puzzle video game “TRON: Identity”. Devolver Digital subsidiary Big Fan Games announced the game.

> The title is described as a “thrilling, story-driven isometric action game”.

> It continues the story of the Arq Grid and explorations of the highly resilient and resourceful program Exo who can initiate time loops.

> With this newfound power, Exo takes on the overlords of a crumbling Grid all while evading Conn, a malevolent agent of CORE. Exo must gain control over her mysterious abilities and uncover the unexplained ‘Glitch’ that threatens the Grid.

> Exo will also need to navigate warring factions to unlock new paths and uncover the secrets of the Arq Grid. This all comes ahead of the new “TRON: Ares” film opening early next year.

> In a recent interview with That Hashtag Show, Smith was promoting the VOD release of his “The 4:30 Movie” and was asked about the status of “Dogma”. He says plans are afoot for the release:

> “The movie has been bought away from the guy that had it for years and whatnot. The company that bought it, we met with them a couple months ago.

>They were like, ‘Would you be interested in re-releasing it and touring it like you did with your movies?’ I said ‘100 percent, are you kidding me? Touring a movie that I know people like, and it’s sentimental and nostalgic? We’ll clean up.’

>Right now, 2024 is our 25th anniversary this year. November is when we came out. I think 2025 it looks like is when the movement is going to happen there. Back on home video, then back out in theaters, and I’ll tour it.”

>Smith also teased a follow-up could be in the cards:

>“Maybe, at this point, sequels, TV versions, in terms of extending the story. Something we could never do before. So exciting man. And all those people who worked in it are still viable.”

> Kino Lorber will be bringing the Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton volcano film home in crisp 4K UltraHD sometime next year.

A video tape that erases itself after two views - fascinating, flawed, failed, and mostly forgotten tech.

> It's a sad reality that streaming services are deleting original films from platforms - here's everything that's disappeared from Disney+

It's too long to abbreviate here. It's quite surprising what they've deleted.

From their official Twitter account.

> Gladiator II is on the cover of Total Film’s upcoming issue 356, which hits print and digital newsstands on October 10. It’s with a heavy heart that we announce that this will be the final issue of the print magazine. > > We like to think that this final print edition is a showcase of everything that Total Film magazine strived for, with a thrilling blockbuster on the cover, A-list interviews, fair and impartial reviews, smaller interesting movies nestled alongside the more mainstream fare, and above all else a passion for cinema radiating out of every page. > > In the cover feature, we’re talking to Ridley Scott, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and more about returning to the Colosseum for Gladiator II. From epic set pieces, to Scott’s unique approach to shooting, to Maximus’ legacy, it’s the perfect primer to this autumn’s most anticipated sequel. > > Print subscribers will receive their issue with an exclusive cover shortly (and our subscriptions team will be in touch shortly to discuss next steps). > > So for now, it only leaves us to say a huge thank you to all the staff, writers, designers and photographers who made Total Film print magazine what it was over the past 27 years. And we’d also like to express our endless gratitude to everyone who has read, subscribed to or otherwise supported the magazine. > > While the magazine itself is going away, our archive content and expert movie and TV writing will continue to live on at http://gamesradar.com/totalfilm. >

> This summer, the epic studio disaster movie returns with an adrenaline-pumping, seat-gripping, big-screen thrill ride that puts you in direct contact with one of nature's most wondrous---and destructive---forces. > > From the producers of the Jurassic, Bourne and Indiana Jones series comes Twisters, a current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster, Twister. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar® nominated writer-director of Minari, Twisters stars Golden Globe nominee Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People) and Glen Powell (Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick) as opposing forces who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, the immense power of tornadoes. > > Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. > > As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives. > > Twisters features an exciting new cast, including Nope's Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy). > > From Amblin Entertainment, Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall (Jurassic and Indiana Jones franchises) and by Patrick Crowley (Jurassic and Bourne franchises). The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, writer of the Best Picture nominee The Revenant. Twisters will be distributed by Universal Pictures domestically and by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally. > > Special Features and Technical Specs: > > - DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM > - DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK > - FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR LEE ISAAC CHUNG > - GAG REEL > - DELETED SCENES > - TRACKING THE FRONTS: THE PATH OF TWISTERS -- Trace the trajectory of TWISTERS from its earliest inception to production and get to know the cast as they lead this look into creating their characters, using science to add authenticity, and working through extreme weather wreaking havoc on set. > - INTO THE EYE OF THE STORM -- Discover how TWISTERS blends practical and visual effects to turn nature's most destructive forces into entertaining thrills. > - GLEN POWELL: ALL ACCESS -- Glen Powell provides a private tour of a day in his life on the TWISTERS > - FRONT SEAT TO A CHASE -- Strap in with the cast and professional storm chasers as they brave the elements to track tornados in Oklahoma. > - VOICE OF A VILLAIN* -- Hear the creation of the film's deafening howls with a seat in the studio where the audio team mixes unexpected sounds to give the storms a new dimension of depth. > - TRICKED-OUT TRUCKS -- Buckle up for a wild ride in the film's custom vehicles fitted with unique features ranging from rocket launchers to advanced radar tech. > - Optional English, French Canadian, Latin American Spanish subtitles for the main feature > > [!](https://images.blu-ray.com/news/upload/18180.jpg)

I'm assuming those extra features will only run for about ten minutes each. Sadly we don't get massive making of documentaries anymore. However, I am pleasantly surprised to see an audio commentary, want expecting that.

From the official Netflix twitter account:

> Here's a first look at Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt in The Electric State. Directed by the Russo Brothers. Coming 2025.

> After a robot uprising in the '90s, an orphaned teen searching for her brother travels the American West with a robot, a smuggler, and his sidekick.

And some more information from Dark Horizons;

> Millie Bobbie Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Giancarlo Espostito, Anthony Mackie, Stanley Tucci, Jason Alexander, Brian Cox, and Jenny Slate star in the coming-of-age sci-fi western tale set in a retro-futuristic alternate 1990s.

> Brown plays an orphaned teenager who traverses the American West with her robot friend and Keats (Pratt), an eccentric drifter and veteran of the robot-human war in search of her younger brother. > > The project is based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Simon Stalenhag. Shot in October 2022 and wrapping in February 2023, further reshoots took place in March and April of this year. > > While Vanity Fair published the photos, not mentioned in the piece accompanying it is all the talk of the film’s budget with the movie reportedly costing around $320 million to produce. > > The budget blowout on this film is rumored to be one of the reasons why Netflix reassessed its film division and brought Dan Lin to replace Scott Stuber as head of film with a mandate of being more frugal.

The pictures were released in this one block.

!

> Now it’s just about time for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to come home, as Deadline reports that Warner Bros. will giving it a PVOD and digital release on October 8th. It will be available for purchase or rental on Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and more on that date. The 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD physical media release will follow on November 19th.

> Meet the man behind the music that changed our lives.

> Watch the trailer for Music By John Williams, an all-new documentary, streaming November 1 on @DisneyPlus.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man | How the dwindling of home media has affected a cult comic book franchise ===================================================================================================

by Ryan Lambie | October 1, 2024

!hellboy_ the crooked man

Hellboy's back in cinemas with The Crooked Man, but its budget is drastically reduced from its 2000s heyday. A shrinking home video market may be the reason.

There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile... presumably so he could share top billing in Hellboy: The Crooked Man, which snuck into UK cinemas on the 27th September.

For fans of the source comics, seeing the antihero back on the big screen after the disappointment of 2019's Hellboy reboot -- a film even its director Neil Marshall, publicly disowned -- will be at least some cause for celebration. But what's noteworthy about Hellboy: The Crooked Man (directed by Crank co-director Brian Taylor) is just how small-scale it looks compared to the visually sumptuous movies director Guillermo del Toro served up in the 2000s.

Where 2004's Hellboy served up a bold-looking take on the comic books, The Crooked Man is a contained story largely set in run-down chapels and shacks in Appalachia. Where 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Army featured dozens of intricately-designed characters and action set-pieces, this year's movie offers up a smaller cast and a title villain who could have come from one of Blumhouse's low-budget horrors.

Although it's far from a bad film -- it's certainly less muddled than its 2019 predecessor -- its relatively low budget of $20m is often plain to see, from its muddy lighting to uneven digital effects. All of which might beg the question: what happened in the preceding 20 years? How did the movies go from budgets of $60-80m in the 2000s to less than a third of that in 2024? The likely answer doesn't necessarily come down to the popularity of Hellboy himself, but rather a changing filmmaking ecosystem.

It's worth pointing out that neither Hellboy nor its immediate sequel were huge hits. The 2004 original made roughly $100m worldwide on its $60m-ish budget; its sequel did better with worldwide take of about $168m, but then that film's budget also swelled to around $85m.

Back in the 2000s, however, profits in cinema only formed a part of a movie's lifecycle, and 2004's Hellboy was a big success on DVD. A two-disc special edition, released that July, reportedly sold about 500,000 copies; a three-disc director's cut was also released in the autumn of that year, and likely sold well in the run-up to Christmas.

It was that popularity on its home release that convinced Revolution Studios to go ahead with Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which followed a similar pattern: it more-or-less made a profit theatrically, but it was on disc that it made the most money. In fact, The Golden Army, despite its expanded budget, would have gotten a sequel itself were it not for outside forces acting against it. Guillermo del Toro expressed his interest in making Hellboy 3, a film that would have completed the trilogy with title star Ron Perlman, but he spent several years working on an adaptation of The Hobbit that, ultimately, would never happen.

By 2014, del Toro revealed that he'd tried to pitch Hellboy 3 to studios, but they'd all turned it down. The reason, he said in a Reddit AMA, was due to the collapse of the home video market in the years since The Golden Army came out.

"We have gone through basically every studio and asked for financing, and they are not interested," the filmmaker wrote that July. "I think that the first movie made its budget back, and a little bit of profit, but then it was very very big on video and DVD. The story repeated itself with the second already, it made its money back at the box office, but a small margin of profit in the release of the theatrical print, but was very very big on DVD and video. Sadly now from a business point of view all the studios know is that you don't have that safety net of the DVD and video, so they view the project as dangerous."

Del Toro estimated elsewhere that his concept for a third Hellboy would require a budget of $120m -- a sum studios were increasingly reluctant to stomach. When a new Hellboy finally emerged in 2019, directed by Neil Marshall and with David Harbour replacing Ron Perlman as its demonic antihero, it was made with a budget of $50m. Given how much inflation had risen since 2004, that sum was even tighter than it might initially sound.

Although intended as a reboot, the 2019 Hellboy wasn't quite the fresh start its studio might have hoped, with a troubled production and an ultimate box office take of about $55m. That the movie made about $12m on its home release in the US likely helped push its profits nearer to the black than the red, but it's still far below the franchise's high point in the 2000s.

All of which explain why, when Millennium Media decided to reboot Hellboy again with The Crooked Man, the budget was slashed again, this time to a reported $20m. Now featuring Jack Kesy as the gun-wielding, crimson lead, its R-rated action and backwoods horror tone will no doubt be familiar to readers of the source comics, but the downside is that it's far less cinematic in its presentation than what emerged from del Toro's baroque imagination some 20 years ago.

In the 2020s, movies still have other ways of making profits beyond their initial cinema releases, from premium video-on-demand to fancy 4K Blu-rays. The market for physical media has shrunk dramatically since 2005, however; an industry at its peak worth some $16bn in the US alone is now worth more like $2bn. It was once the case that you could see movies in most major retailers, and buy a DVD or Blu-ray on impulse. By now, many outlets -- including Best Buy in the US -- have stopped selling them entirely.

The market for physical media's still there, but its huge reduction has seen studios grow increasingly wary of where they invest their money -- and how much they spend. Just ask Hellboy.

> She's back! And she's learned NOTHING.

Why is anyone listening to this woman? I couldn't watch the whole video, she's mad!

> Veteran character actor’s career spanned over 50 years in TV and films, including Little Big League and Midnight Run