Cleopatra 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Available for Pre-Order
Posted February 15, 2013 07:11 PM by Webmaster
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is yet to officially announce and detail its upcoming 50th Anniversary Blu-ray editions of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's legendary Cleopatra, but Amazon already has them available for pre-order. Early retail information indicates that Fox will release
Limited DigiBook and standard Blu-ray editions of the epic film.
After Julius Caesar's murder, Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) turns her affections to Mark Antony (Richard Burton). This epic re-telling of the life and loves of the Egyptian Queen, with Oscar winning spectacular sets and costumes, flopped badly on its original release. The film has gained more notoriety since for what went on behind the scenes.
Note: In 2012, Cleopatra was released on Blu-ray in multiple European territories. The following supplemental features are included on the European releases:
Cleopatra Through The Ages: A Cultural History
Cleopatra's Missing Footage
Fox Movie Channel presents Fox Legacy with Tom Rothman
Commentary with Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky
The Cleopatra Papers: A Private Correspondence
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
The Fourth Star of Cleopatra
Archival Footage of the New York Premiere
Archival Footage of the Hollywood Premiere
Theatrical Trailers
You could read Blu-ray.com's review of the UK Blu-ray release of Cleopatrahere.
Good to see this finally getting to the U.S. However, unless they've found and added more missing footage from the original cut (at the very least as additional bonus features), I'll stick with my nice region-free U.K. version which looks pretty darn good and cost me about $17 U.S. including the shipping from England a year ago.
The European disc is a really beautiful transfer but it's probably the slowest loading disc I've ever encountered. The second disc in particular seems to take forever.
This is GREAT news!!! I love this movie and I was hoping they'd release it in the US with a digibook. I rarely pre-order, but I definitely will for this!
Cleopatra's entrance into Rome should be the BD highlight of the year. Can't wait. I usually have a rule about not making first day buys but given that the reviews from Europe have been stunningly positive I think I'm going to do it this time.
On the DVD commentary Chris Manciewicz mentions that the concept for Cleopatra was originally two long films instead of the single film that was eventually released. He hoped that some day in the future the longer versions might be finally finished and people would be able to see the films as his father had intended. I guess that isn't ever going to happen now.
Already have the UK edition I will be picking up the digibook, I am just wondering why the hell fox took so long in releasing this when every other region has had this for over a year. Get your shit together fox!
Looks like the Discs contents will be identical to the UK edition, which I already own. I thought for sure that
Fox would give Cleopatra packaging that was at least equal to the LOA box set. Just picked up Skyfall, and that
came in a crappy eco-case, shame on you fox! By the way, Cleopatra is now priced down to six pounds on
Amazon UK.
Cleopatra did not "flop badly" as the original poster states! In fact, in original release it did terrific business all over the world. Due to its large production and distribution costs, with a huge order of 70mm prints and roadshow exhibition, it did take a long time to return a profit, but it is considered profitable. It won several Oscars and received a lot of excellent reviews. Today, it is considered a classic epic by many people and holds up very well theatrically. No industry criterion would allow Cleopatra being considered a "flop".
@rlsmith: You are plainly incorrect; it is well known that Cleopatra's costs ran so far out of control that it all but bankrupted Fox and led directly to the final comeback of Darryl Zanuck. Zanuck was forced to sell off most of the lot (today's Century City) to keep Fox afloat; he also sold Cleopatra to television for a then-outrageous sum and essentially promoted it as the story of Liz & Dick's affair instead of Cleo & Mark's. Even then, Cleopatra didn't go into the black until it hit VHS decades later.
@RBBrittain: Many sources state that Cleopatra reported a profit by 1973 when it was sold to television. It has continued to make money ever since through theatrical and ancillary releases including, certainly, home video. It grossed $24M in the first six months of release (in the era of slow release schedules for road shows), which was a record at the time, and set many local records, iespecially internationally. It certainly almost destroyed the studio during the early years but it finally did make money. Not a flop by normal industry standards, and Fox today is proud of the film. John Carter was a flop, for example.
It almost seems like some people want to boost up Hello, Dolly! and Cleopatra by including sales to TV and video profits a dozen years after the theatrical release to show it finally made a profit. Unfortunately, you can't count those because the time of release is when you have to look at how things affect the company. If I make a $44 million movie and it only grossed $20 million, some people are going to be affected by it. If a dozen years later, it finally makes a profit, I don't think anyone at the studio is going to think I am a genius. Matter of fact, I would be lucky if I was still employed after that first fiasco.
Can't wait to find out that Heaven's Gate was a box-office bonanza.
In find it a little bit weird that Fox doesn't make a Ultimate 50th anniversary Special Edition like they did it for "The Sound of Music". "Cleopatra" deserve a better release because the movie and the actors are amazing - much better than today any blockbuster movies are. Well... this was sure that fox will bring out in the US a blu-ray release for its 50th Anniversary. Not sure yet if I would buy it or not... Only, when they will add some more / new bonus.
