The French Dispatch (2021) - December 28, 2021

[MifuneFan]

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will be getting a Blu-ray release from Disney, with a tentative release date of December 28th. Of course, there's a strong possibility that Criterion will be releasing their own version down the line. No word on a UHD release yet.

THE FRENCH DISPATCH brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city. It stars Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson.

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Screenplay by: Wes Anderson

Produced by: Wes Anderson, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson

Cast: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson

THE FRENCH DISPATCH | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures - YouTube

[HipsterTrash]

So Criterion release in 2026?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

So Criterion release in 2026?

Maybe longer. Grand Budapest took 6 years to come to Criterion. Still waiting on Isle of Dogs, which will be 4 years old in 2022.

[DVD Josh]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Maybe longer. Grand Budapest took 6 years to come to Criterion. Still waiting on Isle of Dogs, which will be 4 years old in 2022.

I was very very surprised with how good Isle of Dogs was. I'm not the biggest Anderson fan although I love GBH. I really thought Dogs was very, very well done.

[Captain.Monkey]

Really insulting release. I expected barebones and maybe 1 feature but the lack of 4K and steelbook is gross. And then the whole 6 year wait for Criterion. Unless they can finesse something and get it out within a year

[JupiterMission]

I saw this one last week and I enjoyed it. I wouldn't quite put it up there with Budapest and Moonrise as far as his recent films go, but it was close enough. And it was so fast-paced and packed with detail that I suspect re-watches will get me to like it even more (as happened with Budapest). I'll pick this up, and probably pick up the Criterion whenever it comes out as well.

[BluBonnet]

Day one for me.

[gkolb]

This has a 4K DI per the 4K Movie Releases thread.

I really hoped this one would get an initial 4K UHD release. Is it Wes or is it Disney that’s the issue? We may never know.

With no special features this will be a difficult purchase.

[TFU09]

Originally Posted by gkolb

This has a 4K DI per the 4K Movie Releases thread.

I really hoped this one would get an initial 4K UHD release. Is it Wes or is it Disney that’s the issue? We may never know.

With no special features this will be a difficult purchase.

Costs money for mastering special features and putting on the disc, even if it's something that's already done and complete. My guess is Disney knows Criterion will release this, and knows we know that, and just wants to get whatever upfront money they can from selling this.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by gkolb

This has a 4K DI per the 4K Movie Releases thread.

I really hoped this one would get an initial 4K UHD release. Is it Wes or is it Disney that’s the issue? We may never know.

With no special features this will be a difficult purchase.

Yeah...I'm thinking the same thing. It will probably go down to $7.99 territory before we know it, so I'll scoop it up then.....

while patiently waiting for the Criterion release which will likely come in 5-6 years.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by gkolb

This has a 4K DI per the 4K Movie Releases thread.

I really hoped this one would get an initial 4K UHD release. Is it Wes or is it Disney that’s the issue? We may never know.

With no special features this will be a difficult purchase.

while I try to be a staunch supporter of physical media, if this goes to streaming in 4K I'd buy it as such, but I wish this was a case like Parasite, where Universal releases their version standard/4K and a deluxe edition from Criterion in a short release window.

[MifuneFan]

What were they thinking with this giant banner running up the side

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

What were they thinking with this giant banner running up the side

[Show spoiler]

They did the same with Isle of Dogs

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by dylrichard02

They did the same with Isle of Dogs

Oh wow, so they did. At least they're consistent, I guess.

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Oh wow, so they did. At least they're consistent, I guess.

Definitely a rarity within the world of studio releases, or physical media releases in general.

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Oh wow, so they did. At least they're consistent, I guess.

They can be consistent with that, or with Disney's terrible layout scheme. They choose wisely.

Everybody's talking about Criterion, but with Disney now involved being the distributor, doesn't that murky the waters? It could possibly not happen, right?

[HD Canuck]

Need to include the Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders...

Wes Anderson Horror Trailer - SNL - YouTube

[filmbuffTX]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

What were they thinking with this giant banner running up the side

[Show spoiler]

They could have uglied it up with the Disney silver swoosh banner at the top, so I wouldn’t complain. That looks much nicer in comparison.

[Brandon K]

I haven't seen this film but as an Anderson fan, I'm excited to. I'll probably just go ahead and pre-order this, so that I can watch it sooner rather than later.

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

What were they thinking with this giant banner running up the side

They were probably trying to maximize the size of the main content in the film's primary poster, due to all the small details in there, without cropping, within the aspect ratio of the Blu-ray case, and still have enough vertical room for the film's title to be of a prominent-enough size. The poster itself (meant to be the cover of the titular magazine) has a similar (albeit more interesting) banner strip on the left side.

Left: Blu-ray, Right: Poster



Compared to the poster art though, it does appear that they've potentially messed something up in this one section. It's almost as if they did an edit on a line art layer, moving the corner of the building down, to possibly eliminate the top row. Hopefully they fix this before releasing it.

Top: Blu-ray, Bottom: Poster

[slumcat]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

One of Wes' most challenging films in that I don't know how to process it after one viewing. So this might be a case I actually fork over money for the shrimpy version and wear it down until the CC release.

You have to see it twice to fully get it. I think this is his best film to date - a masterpiece.


Also this is out on PVOD and I couldn't resist myself, but does anyone know the scene with subs?

This movie has lots of titling and subtitling and it all seems hardcoded to me.

If there is releases in other countries, would it still be hard coded?

There is hardcoded french for example, which I imagine would not fly in France?