If we don't get Ben Hur in UHD this year, I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually planned for this year, but it got delayed indefinitely. A new recent scan exists at the very least, as Lasergraphics has Ben Hur in their list of notable films scanned with their scanners, but Lasergraphics wasn't scanning 65mm film back in 2012, when the blu-ray from the 8K scan was released. We know that there have been issues with manufacturing of discs lately, as George Feltenstein has said over and over for months to explain the delays in WAC's releases (sadly, WHV doesn't have the same transparency). We know that Se7en got pushed out to next year. North By Northwest and Blazing Saddles got moved from early november to mid november. I wouldn't be surprised if Gone with the Wind, The Iron Giant, Amadeus and Little Shop of Horrors also got delayed (Frank Oz even confirmed last year that an UHD would come out this year, and that the 4K restoration was finished). We also know of Amadeus having been restored in 4K this year.
I just hope that if manufacturing issues truly prevent us from getting UHDs of Ben Hur, Gone With The Wind, The Iron Giant and Amadeus this year, Warner doesn't just decide to sit on these movies wait till the next special anniversary, in 2029, because they missed the current special anniversary. That would suck. I would rather have Criterion put all their efforts into getting rights for those movies. While Criterion is often guilty of sitting on a film for years before releasing it, I still don't think the wait would be as long as from now till 2029...
Regarding The Iron Giant especifically, I wouldn't be surprised if a major reason for why it could not get an UHD this year is that Brad Bird is too busy making Ray Gunn to properly supervise a new transfer. That said, the current blu-ray is excellent!
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