Why is the witches of eastwick......

[kong73]

not getting it's own release! (digi-book) I love this 80's movie but warner is giving it NO LOVE!!!! whats up?

[steve_dave]

It is part of the double feature with Practical Magic in the US and Canada.

Of course, you could always import anyone of the UK, Aus, HK, or Japanese releases if do not want a double feature disc.

[sfmarine]

Yup..it's coming out on the 6th! Classic Nicholson film..although it would never be digi-book worthy. It wasn't that well received.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Yup..it's coming out on the 6th! Classic Nicholson film..although it would never be digi-book worthy. It wasn't that well received.

Neither was Practical Magic, IIRC, but if you're some ex-Charmed addict, the two movies deserve each other.

[sfmarine]

I haven't seen PM..I just remember getting a good laugh @ Nicholson's maddness in WOE.

[BillieCassin]

Practical Magic was pretty much a bomb, but I'm not sure where people are getting the idea that Eastwick had similar issues. It did great in the theater for an R-rated comedy at the time (it debuted at #2, and actually went to #1 the second week, even though it dropped 15% in sales - which, again, to only drop %15 in the second week is amazing), and became an instant hit on video where it made even more $ and became a classic.

That said, I like both films - but I dislike two, unrelated films in one box. Even just for alphabetizing purposes. I can deal with it for sequels, but I don't care for it like this. Not to mention, Eastwick is a classic and deserves a much nicer edition than to be lumped in with another movie made a decade later.

[Raybee]

Box office was so different then. Films could stay in theaters and on the charts for months, almost a year or so. Now it's all about the opening weekend, and then get it straight to BD/DVD.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Raybee

Box office was so different then. Films could stay in theaters and on the charts for months, almost a year or so. Now it's all about the opening weekend, and then get it straight to BD/DVD.

Oh, true - but Eastwick has become at least a minor 80's classic, and I agree that it deserves a bit more of a release than this.

[surfinhank]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

It is part of the double feature with Practical Magic in the US and Canada.

Of course, you could always import anyone of the UK, Aus, HK, or Japanese releases if do not want a double feature disc.

What imports are you talking about? I looked it up in UK, Australia and Japan and saw no single disc release.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

Oh, true - but Eastwick has become at least a minor 80's classic, and I agree that it deserves a bit more of a release than this.

Decidedly minor--And, not to put too fine a point on it, an incoherent mess:
It's remembered for, um,

[Show spoiler]not exactly being a bowl of cherries

, but Nicholson ended up getting his Oscar nomination for the "serious" movie that year, John Williams ended up recycling the score into his Harry Potter themes, and the crew later went on to complain that "the producers kept having a different idea for what the movie 'should' be every week of shooting".

Nowadays, audiences remember it for the chick-empowerment-fantasy they WISH it could have been from the concept, like that Charmed-ripoff TV series we got, and even John Updike cashed in on the book sequel.
Still, the double feature disk was Warner's way of saying "You were probably thinking of the Sandra Bullock one, and couldn't remember the title."

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by surfinhank

What imports are you talking about? I looked it up in UK, Australia and Japan and saw no single disc release.

Not released yet but Warner International's track record is to release movies individually or without the Digibook packaging.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Decidedly minor--And, not to put too fine a point on it, an incoherent mess:
It's remembered for, um,

[Show spoiler]not exactly being a bowl of cherries

, but Nicholson ended up getting his Oscar nomination for the "serious" movie that year, John Williams ended up recycling the score into his Harry Potter themes, and the crew later went on to complain that "the producers kept having a different idea for what the movie 'should' be every week of shooting".

Nowadays, audiences remember it for the chick-empowerment-fantasy they WISH it could have been from the concept, like that Charmed-ripoff TV series we got, and even John Updike cashed in on the book sequel.
Still, the double feature disk was Warner's way of saying "You were probably thinking of the Sandra Bullock one, and couldn't remember the title."

Well, Witches of Eastwick was the #10 grossing film of the year and actually outgrossed Dirty Dancing, Predator, and Robocop. It made roughly the same amount as the first Lethal Weapon and DOUBLE the amount of The Princess Bride that year, so I'd say it was successful and certainly deserves better than a bargain bin premiere.

In fact, I'll go a bit further. Which of these do you think made the most at the domestic box office...
Weird Science, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, The Abyss, A Fish Called Wanda, Goodfellas, Point Break, The Fly, Stand By Me, or Witches of Eastwick? I feel like all of these movies have had good DVD and/or Blu-ray releases except one.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Cliff

Well, Witches of Eastwick was the #10 grossing film of the year and actually outgrossed Dirty Dancing, Predator, and Robocop. It made roughly the same amount as the first Lethal Weapon and DOUBLE the amount of The Princess Bride that year, so I'd say it was successful and certainly deserves better than a bargain bin premiere.

In fact, I'll go a bit further. Which of these do you think made the most at the domestic box office...
Weird Science, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, The Abyss, A Fish Called Wanda, Goodfellas, Point Break, The Fly, Stand By Me, or Witches of Eastwick? I feel like all of these movies have had good DVD and/or Blu-ray releases except one.

[Clark Kent]

Witches of Eastwick probably deserves a better fate than ending up in a combo pack with Practical Magic, but Warner has never treated this movie kindly on home video. The DVD was in a snapper case for years and quickly relegated to the Walmart bargain bins.

As someone else said, it will be available on its own in other territories if you want to have it by itself. The BDs of course will be identical.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Witches of Eastwick probably deserves a better fate than ending up in a combo pack with Practical Magic, but Warner has never treated this movie kindly on home video. The DVD was in a snapper case for years and quickly relegated to the Walmart bargain bins.

As someone else said, it will be available on its own in other territories if you want to have it by itself. The BDs of course will be identical.

Does that mean it will be on it's own disc? If it's on it's own disc, I'd buy it and just use my own case for it. I assumed with these titles they just slapped both on the same Blu.

You are correct about the shabby treatment - same as Universal has given Death Becomes Her, which is quite an entertaining film with three huge stars. As far as I can tell, it's never even been released in WIDESCREEN on DVD, only in 1.33.

Sad, sad.

[steve_dave]

The double feature discs in the US, with the exception of the Eastwood titles, have been single BD-50s with each two films on a disc.

The way they are placed on the disc is one film would occupy a 25gb layer with the other film taking up the remaining 25gb layer. So the international release would be a BD-25 with it's own case.

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

You are correct about the shabby treatment - same as Universal has given Death Becomes Her, which is quite an entertaining film with three huge stars. As far as I can tell, it's never even been released in WIDESCREEN on DVD, only in 1.33.

Sad, sad.

Not in North America, no. Thankfully Universal in other regions saw fit to issue it in OAR.

[nazdar]

How rude when they bundle a favorite like Frantic or In Cold Blood. Just remember George Miller, who made it good.

[The Driver]

What a mess! They've even put it 2nd in the artwork.

The Witches of Eastwick is a complete classic. One of my favourite films from the 80s! "Comedy"? TWOE ain't a ****ing comedy. To put it in with a POS like this is a crime and it means -read this bit Warner- I'll not be buying it.

TWOE is actually a very well written and intelligent adult black farce.

It deserves much better than this treatment. I don't know of any other version of this Blu-ray either so not sure why people are saying to buy elsewhere.

[The Driver]

....and while we're at it, I'd like to see them use the Polish artwork on the front cover for a Walmart exclusive:



Yes, maybe I'm asking a bit too much there