Daybreakers 4K UHD (2009) - Umbrella Entertainment

[Filmmaker]

Official word from Umbrella Entertainment this morning:

”Daybreakers fans, unfortunately we have had some setbacks on our upcoming release.

With the assistance of the Spierig Brothers, we have been working on improving the master to ensure we can provide the definitive experience. This process is proving to take more time than expected.

Thank you all so much for your support and patience. We will send out an email to all customers once we lock in the revised release date.

In the meantime, stay out of the sun and drink blood responsibly!”

I told you they wouldn’t be foisting that tragic earlier 4K transfer on us again, but noooo, everybody had to embrace pessimism.

[Filmmaker]

For whatever it’s worth, the title now shows a June 30th release date. Likely not set in stone considering this morning’s communication, but it at least gives us an idea of the timeline they’re expecting to fix what needs fixin’.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

Official word from Umbrella Entertainment this morning:

”Daybreakers fans, unfortunately we have had some setbacks on our upcoming release.

With the assistance of the Spierig Brothers, we have been working on improving the master to ensure we can provide the definitive experience. This process is proving to take more time than expected.

Thank you all so much for your support and patience. We will send out an email to all customers once we lock in the revised release date.

In the meantime, stay out of the sun and drink blood responsibly!”

I told you they wouldn’t be foisting that tragic earlier 4K transfer on us again, but noooo, everybody had to embrace pessimism.

Ah...but it certainly looks like they were going to use the extant master to begin with, yes? And there was you relying on all sorts of semantic hoopla and bizarro reasoning to insist that they weren't (David wouldn't be seen dead encoding this! No-one announces new 4K masters these days anyway! etc) which is where the pushback came in. There was zero evidence apart from your infernal optimism; if you'd just said "I wish I wish this was a betterer master" then fine, but noooo, you have to do that thing of pulling all those specious qualifiers out of thin air.

But hey, now that they've actually announced that they're doing work on it (which I thought labels didn't announce any more, wink wink) and will set the release back a ways then I'm happy to say you were right and I was wrong. But I still need more than someone's hope/belief as proof of something.

[dallywhitty]

It still sounds to me like they're just tweaking the existing master as opposed to starting from afresh, no?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

It still sounds to me like they're just tweaking the existing master as opposed to starting from afresh, no?

Their wording is vague for sure. I doubt that this is some full-on OCN rebuild - just me and my pessimism again - but hopefully they've gone back to the DI at the very least. I don't see what else they could do to fix the existing 4K transfer, apart from burning it with fire.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

It still sounds to me like they're just tweaking the existing master as opposed to starting from afresh, no?

Seems so, but I’ll happily take improvements however they come.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Ah...but it certainly looks like they were going to use the extant master to begin with, yes?

You’re so cool, Brewster. They said from the very original announcement that they were working directly with the Spierig Brothers on this so this doesn’t read as the Spierig Brothers swept in at the last second and saved us from imminent danger, but that the goal from the outset, with Umbrella and the Spierig Brothers united, has been to improve upon the earlier 4K release and they discovered along the way that their original projected timeline fell short. By all means, cleave to your beloved pessimism and defend it mightily with your quaking fist, as I know you certainly will (even when Geoff is wrong, he’ll make sure you know he’s Big Picture right) but it was as obvious as daylight to me that it was highly unlikely we were gonna get Lionsgate 2.0.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

You’re so cool, Brewster. They said from the very original announcement that they were working directly with the Spierig Brothers on this so this doesn’t read as the Spierig Brothers swept in at the last second and saved us from imminent danger, but that the goal from the outset, with Umbrella and the Spierig Brothers united, has been to improve upon the earlier 4K release and they discovered along the way that their original projected timeline fell short. By all means, cleave to your beloved pessimism and defend it mightily with your quaking fist, as I know you certainly will (even when Geoff is wrong, he’ll make sure you know he’s Big Picture right) but it was as obvious as daylight to me that it was highly unlikely we were gonna get Lionsgate 2.0.

According to the website blurb the directors were involved with the packaging, booklet etc, sure, but I know from actual experience that that isn't an automatic read on them redoing the transfer, not least one which they had approved already. For Second Sight's The VVitch they had Eggers intimately involved with approving everything re: the design and artwork and just used the existing 4K master, with the project getting so far along they had Fidelity do the authoring, disc testmolds were done and being sent out for reviewers, then at the very last minute they aksed Eggers if he wanted to supervise a new master.

So maybe that tale is grounds enough for being more optimistic from the outset with Daybreakers, not less, but it's all the other flimflammery you were pulling from nowhere to justify it that didn't make any sense to me, and still doesn't TBH.

[Filmmaker]

Okay, Geoff. (*tired nod*) Yes, Geoff.