The Killing and Killer's Kiss 4K UHDs (1955-1956)

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I'm not sure if it's been officially stated by Kino yet, but it seems pretty clear that 4K licensing is completely separate for MGM than BD licensing. So release dates of those Criterion titles would have no bearing whatsoever on this since they would seemingly have to make two separate licensing agreements to get both BD and 4K rights.

KLI has been talking about having the 4K rights to [whatever MGM movie/bundle] for years, since at least the 2018/2019 period when several of those Criterions were released and even before that, they just didn't exercise them because the gains weren't worth the cost at that point. TGTBATU is an example, if I remember rightly KLI always maintained that they had the UHD rights from day 1 with that license, bearing in mind their BD was released in 2017 and they were already trying to gauge whether a 4K would be worth it in Q4 of that same year: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...y#post14312259.

A 4K version is clearly a separate license but, as said, it appeared as if MGM were bundling in the parallel 4K rights with x movie almost by default, and it certainly didn't seem to cost Kino anything for having those rights but not using them.

We also have no idea when MGM started allowing labels to get 4K licensing rights from them. My stance is, it's very possible, if not likely, that Kino was granted first access right when the gates opened. Neither of us knows what's the truth, and it's all speculation either way, so I'll just leave it at that.

So the idea is that those MGM 4K rights were only offered to Kino, even when they weren't using them, and that everyone else who applied for licenses during this time was only offered BD rights? I dunno, dude. It just seems to me like Kino have simply been shrewd AF, that while Criterion were still privately umming and ahing about going 4K and publicly shitting on 4K (again, Lee Kline says "h!") Kino enquired about all these properties and were told that Criterion hadn't exercised the 4K option. Perhaps there's some sort of shorter time limit to using the 4K rights, i.e. Criterion had them but let them lapse, but then that doesn't work for Great Escape because it's barely been 18 months since Criterion released that on BD.

Shit, I'm confusing myself at this point. It is all speculation as you say. But I still don't think that a company like Criterion gets gazumped so easily as they have done here without making those decisions for themselves. The truth prolly lies in the middle, that this is the natural result of Criterion's erstwhile apathy (if not downright disdain) towards 4K UHD and Kino's favourable position at MGM.