Why have some popular films not been released on Blu-ray?

[jabrackin]

Does anyone know why some films like .. The Ghost snd the Darkness... Lean on Me and The Apostle have not been released on blu-ray yet? There must be a reason.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by jabrackin

Does anyone know why some films like .. The Ghost snd the Darkness... Lean on Me and The Apostle have not been released on blu-ray yet? There must be a reason.

It usually boils down to one or more of the reasons below:

1) Rights - Which studio owns the rights for distribution and are they defunct or bankrupt?
2) Source - Does the film in question need to be restored, remastered, or is there already an acceptable source?
3) Return on investment - The studios usually know that if they spend X on paying for rights, restoring, and/or remastering a film if they will make money off a catalog title. If they know that a particular release won't make any money then they hold off releasing it until at least an anniversary, reboot, remake, etc.