Anchor Bay Sold

[Ravi]

http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=HDL&script=410&layout=6&item_id=473251

Now if someone could translate this into English...

[Stefen]

Well I guess were stuck at 13 versions of Evil Dead II

[aclockworkjj]

basically...Anchor Bay is broke.  So they are looking for someone to buy them out.  Now...this is important cause when a company buys out another (the buyer will most likely be a competitor realize) they will pretend like they want to take over operation and get it back on their feet.  When in reality, a lot of the times they will slowly sell off the remaining of the company, fire people, cut costs, and break clients trust.  May seem dirty....but it's a way of forming a monopoly.  All of Anchor Bay's current customers or merchants will be forced to find a new business partner...hopefully the buyers.  It's a way of making it a no thought sorta decsion.  Business is war...

[analogzombie]

Oh what is to be become of the Special Dawn of the Dead DVD set??!

[MacGuffin]

Oh what is to be become of the Special Dawn of the Dead DVD set??!

Anchor Bay Entertainment will at last release a long-awaited two-disc collector's edition of the George A. Romero cult classic Dawn of the Dead on March 9th.

[Cecil]

damn, i like anchor bay. i respect them as much as criterion

[SoNowThen]

let's hope some of their movie rights get sold to Criterion

[Ravi]

let's hope some of their movie rights get sold to Criterion

Do Anchor Bay and Criterion release their DVDs under the same contracts?  I thought Anchor Bay owns the US/Canada rights to their films while Criterion licenses them.  Or does AB license also?

[Find Your Magali]

Oh what is to be become of the Special Dawn of the Dead DVD set??!

Anchor Bay Entertainment will at last release a long-awaited two-disc collector's edition of the George A. Romero cult classic Dawn of the Dead on March 9th.

Yeah, I hope that release date survives the sale. I've been looking forward to that one for a long time.

[socketlevel]

i thought it was a three disc collectors set of dawn of the dead?  one with the theatrical, another directors and third the argento cut of the film.  mac are you sure its only two discs?

[MacGuffin]

i thought it was a three disc collectors set of dawn of the dead?  one with the theatrical, another directors and third the argento cut of the film.  mac are you sure its only two discs?

Rumors galore. Pick which ever one you want:

Anchor Bay, the folks whose releases used to rule the world until Bill Lustig took his catalog and formed Blue Underground, are up for sale. The bargain price? $60,000,0000.00 dollars! The folks at the Bay say this won't screw up their release calender for the forseeable future, so fear not. However, Creature-Corner reports that the Dawn of the Dead set, once a 3-Disc affair, has now been trimmed down to two, and won't hit shelves until 9th March of 2004!! Could it be they couldn't secure Argento's Zombi cut of the film?? That was to take up a disc on it's own, and, seeing as how the other two were supposed to feature the theatrical and undedited versions of Romero's flick, it seems likely that Zombi's the one we won't be seeing, making the release something of a ho-hum event indeed!
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CLARIFYING THE DETAILS OF DAWN

We all woke up to some good word this morning: Anchor Bay is finally going to release the long talked about Dawn of the Dead Special Edition, a presentation of the same caliber as this year's 2-disc Day of the Dead. According to DVD File, Dawn will arrive March 9th. And it's reportedly a 2-discer as well.

That latter nugget of news seemed to bring disappointment to the masses seeing as we've all heard that Dawn was going to be a mucho grande presentation. The one to rule them all.

An Anchor Bay representative contacted Creature-Corner this afternoon to let eager fans know that this information is only partially correct. We've got the full skinny straight from the horse's mouth.

Dawn of the Dead is indeed arriving March 9th but in a single-disc package under Anchor Bay's Divimax banner (similar to the aforementioned Day of the Dead and this year's Halloween: 25th Anniversary Edition). This disc will feature a 16 X 9 theatrical cut transfer and a few Extras that are still being finalized.

Later in '04, Anchor Bay will release a multi-disc Special Edition of Dawn some time before Halloween/late summer. The number of discs contained within is a detail still being worked out by the disc's producers. Our AB rep assures us that this package will contain multiple cuts of the film and numerous commentaries. Also expect brand spankin' new interviews with cast and crew, amongst them: George Romero, Dario Argento, David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross.

This info sound familiar? It should, this release schedule and lay-out was a plan circulating through the rumor mill earlier in the year.

Full specs for both the single-disc and multi-disc set are expected to arrive after the first of the year.
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DVD Debate:

Word is coming in that March 9th 2004 will see the long-awaited release of the Anchor Bay special edition of the classic Dawn Of The Dead.

Details are scarce at the moment, but it is rumoured that there will be two releases. The first will be a 1 or 2 Disc affair, to tie in with the theatrical release of the remake, with a more indepth release following later in the year, including multiple versions of the films, documentaries, commentaries and more, covering at least 3 Discs.
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DVD Bits:

George A. Romero's second installment in his "dead" trilogy (following Night of the Living Dead), Dawn of the Dead, will finally be given a 2-disc Special Edition on March 9. Previous editions have not been what the fans expected (or wanted), and AB has already promised a "3 to 5 disc" edition in 2004, which was to be preceded by a standard version in the first quarter. Whether this March release is the standard release or the final fate of the longer set is still unknown.

[Find Your Magali]

Wow, thanks for compiling all those tidbits, Mac!

I hope we still get the full-tilt extravaganza at some point, even if it's late 2004. ... In the single-disc scenario, the March release doesn't sound like anything I'd need to pick up.

Comprehensive docs and commentaries are worth waiting for. I can wait.

[socketlevel]

yeah thanks for clearing that up.  i just used to frequent the AB site back in the day.  they had this "in the future" section that was really good.  i guess i should have realized that the shit was hitting the fan with their company when that part of the site wasn't being updated.  i guess they realized they had no future and didn't give a shit about updating it.

anyway during that time this part of the site indicated a three disc edition but i guess they stopped caring and trying to find that beloved/supposed "alternate unhappy ending" and maybe the release will be weaker then they had originally anticipated.  i hope it's three discs but i guess i'll have to wait and see.

-sl-