For the week of August 26th, Walt Disney Home Entertainment and 20th Century Studios will release Wes Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy and Eka Darville.
Description: Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise with this action-adventure spectacle from 20th Century Studios. Set several generations in the future following Caesar's reign, apes are living harmoniously as the dominant species — and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Set generations after Caesar's reign in a world where apes are the dominant species, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes follows an ape named Noa and a human named Mae as they emerge to define the future of how apes and humans will coexist.
Disney's 4K UHD release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes contains HDR and the film's Dolby Atmos audio. An included Blu-ray disc features Inside the Lens: The Raw Cut: "a full-length alternative cut with a split-screen comparison between the final cut of the film and a version with unfinished VFX" which features a DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio track and optional filmmaker audio commentary. Additional extras include Inside the Forbidden Zone: Making Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and 14 deleted / extended scenes with optional filmmaker commentary. In addition to standard packaging, a Limited Edition SteelBook will also be available.
New on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is Ishana Shyamalan's The Watchers, starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Oliver Finnegan, Alistair Brammer and John Lynch.
Description: This forest isn't charted on any map. Every car breaks down at its tree line. Mina's is no different. Left stranded, she is forced into the dark woodland only to find a woman shouting, urging Mina to run to a concrete bunker. As the door slams behind her, the building is besieged by screams. Mina finds herself in a room with a wall of glass, and an electric light that activates at nightfall, when the Watchers come above ground. These creatures emerge to observe their captive humans and terrible things happen to anyone who doesn't reach the bunker in time. Afraid and trapped among strangers, Mina is desperate for answers. Who are the Watchers, and why are they keeping the humans imprisoned, keen to watch their every move.
Warner's Blu-ray releases of The Watchers contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD edition. Extras include the four featurettes Welcome to the Show: The Making of The Watchers , Creating The Watchers, Constructing the Coop and Ainriochtán and the Irish Fairy Folklore, as well as deleted scenes.
Also new on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is Brandon Vietti's Watchmen: Chapter 1, starring Matthew Rhys, Katee Sackhoff, Titus Welliver, Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau and Corey Burton.
Description: Based on DC's acclaimed graphic novel co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen Chapter I, the first part of an all-new animated two-part feature film from Warner Bros. Animation and Paramount.
The animated feature is a faithful adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, which redefined the superhero genre when it debuted in the mid-1980s.
Watchmen Chapter I delves into the gritty and complex world of masked vigilantes in an alternate version of America during the Cold War era. The "Watchmen" saga remains a cornerstone of comic book literature, having garnered numerous awards and accolades over the decades.
Warner's 4K UHD of Watchmen: Chapter 1 contains HDR and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio. Extras include the featurettes The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story and Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Chapters I-VI.
Coming to Blu-ray from Warner is Succession: The Complete Series (2018-2023). The twelve-disc set contains all four seasons and 39 episodes, along with over 20 hours of extras.
New on Blu-ray from Warner and MGM is Vikings: Valhalla: Season One (2022), starring Sam Corlett, Leo Suter, Frida Gustavsson, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Laura Berlin and David Oakes.
Description: Vikings: Valhalla chronicles the heroic adventures of some of the most famous Vikings who ever lived — the legendary explorer Leif Eriksson, his fiery and headstrong sister Freydis Eriksdotter, and the ambitious Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson. As tensions between the Vikings and the English royals reach a bloody breaking point and as the Vikings themselves clash over their conflicting Christian and pagan beliefs, these three Vikings begin an epic journey that will take them across oceans and through battlefields, from Kattegat to England and beyond, as they fight for survival and glory.
Finally from Warner this week is a 4K UHD upgrade for Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's Focus (2015), starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Adrian Martinez, Gerald McRaney, Rodrigo Santoro and BD Wong. Warner presents Focus with Dolby Vision HDR and DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio. Extras match the Blu-ray release and include Masters of Misdirection: The Players in a Con, character featurettes, deleted scenes and an alternate opening.
New on Blu-ray from Paramount Home Media Distribution is Star Trek: Discovery - The Final Season (2024). The four-disc set contains all ten episodes, with audio commentary, a deleted scene and six featurettes. In addition to standard packaging, a Limited Edition SteelBook will also be available. On the same day, Paramount will also release Star Trek: Discovery - The Complete Series (2017-2024), a 21-disc box set with all five seasons and an exclusive bonus disc which contains "a never-before-seen journey through all five seasons with the cast and crew".
New on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is Mark Dindal's The Garfield Movie, featuring the voices of Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, Hannah Waddingham, Cecily Strong and Brett Goldstein.
Description: Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt), the world-famous, Monday-hating, lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father – scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) – Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered life into joining Vic in a hilarious, high-stakes heist.
Sony's Blu-ray release of The Garfield Movie contains Blu-ray exclusive extras, including a gag reel, outtakes and a deleted scene (Animatic, featuring Hannah Waddingham). Additional extras include Indoor Cat, Outdoor Adventure, Cast of Critters, How-to-Draw: Garfield, Odie, Vic, and more! and Animation Reels & Gallery.
Also coming from Sony is a 4K UHD upgrade for Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive (2011), starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac and Christina Hendricks. Sony presents Drive with a Dolby Vision HDR grade (approved by Nicolas Winding Refn) and Dolby Atmos remixed audio, as well as the original DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Extras include the new retrospective Back in the Driver's Seat while a legacy Blu-ray copy of the film contains additional extras. For a full release breakdown, read Kenneth Brown's 4K UHD review.
Note: Sony's 4K UHD of Drive is currently only available in SteelBook packaging.
New on Blu-ray from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is Resident Alien: Season Three (2024). The two-disc set contains all eight episodes, plus deleted scenes.
New on Blu-ray from BBC Home Entertainment is the documentary Mammals (2024), narrated by David Attenborough.
Description: Found on every continent and in every ocean, mammals are some of the most adaptable animals on our planet. Join Sir David Attenborough as he follows the journeys of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.
New on Blu-ray from Magnolia Home Entertainment is Nicholas Tomnay's What You Wish For, starring Nick Stahl, Tamsin Topolski, Randy Vasquez, Penelope Mitchell, Juan Carlos Messier and Brian Groh.
Description: Ryan (Nick Stahl) is a talented, down-on-his-luck chef with crushing gambling problems. Circumstances being what they are, he leaves town in a hurry for the safe haven of an unnamed Latin American country where his friend Jack (Brian Groh), a more prestigious chef with his own unique troubles, welcomes him into his home. Ryan has no idea how Jack's able to afford his extravagant lifestyle cooking for the elite in paradise; he doesn't want to feel envious, yet he can't help but want this life for himself as well. Soon, a grim twist of fate will give that to him. Ryan assumes his friend's identity and soon discovers just what Jack's been doing to maintain the lifestyle he so desperately craved.
New on Blu-ray from Well Go USA is Jake Allyn's Ride (2024), starring C. Thomas Howell, Annabeth Gish, Forrie J. Smith, Jake Allyn, Walter J. Buck and Patrick Murney.
Description: Desperate to raise money for his daughter's cancer treatment, a retired bull rider teams up with his estranged son and resorts to robbery to secure payment before time runs out. But after the heist goes awry, keeping the money—and their freedom—requires the duo to outwit a dogged pair of local law enforcement officers, including a justice-minded sheriff who soon suspects that the key to her case may lie uncomfortably close to home.
Well Go USA's Blu-ray of Ride contains several interviews with cast and crew and a trailer. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Turning to catalog titles, Radiance Films has a Blu-ray for Tai Katô's Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza (沓掛時次郎 遊侠一匹) (1966), starring Kinnosuke Nakamura, Junko Ikeuchi, Jirô Okazaki, Keiko Yumi, Yôko Mihara and Nijiko Kiyokawa. Sourced from an HD master supplied by Toei, Radiance presents Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza with LPCM 2.0 Mono audio and optional, new and improved English subtitles. Extras include an interview with film critic Koushi Ueno, a visual essay on Kinnosuke Nakamura by Japanese cinema expert Robin Gatto and a theatrical trailer. Also included is a "limited edition booklet featuring new writing by scholar Ivo Smits and a newly translated archival review". For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Blue Underground is Enzo G. Castellari's High Crime (La polizia incrimina la legge assolve) (1973), starring Franco Nero, James Whitmore, Delia Boccardo, Fernando Rey, Duilio Del Prete and Silvano Tranquilli. Sourced from a new 4K master, Blue Underground presents High Crime with a choice of English or Italian: DTS-HD MA Mono audio tracks and optional English SDH, English, French or Spanish subtitles, along with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include two new audio commentary tracks: One by Franco Nero and filmmaker Mike Malloy and another by film historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani, archival audio commentary with Enzo G. Castellari, an alternate ending (on Blu-ray and 4K UHD), six archival featurettes, a theatrical trailer and a poster and still gallery. Also included is a soundtrack CD with an exclusive bonus track, reversible artwork and an embossed slipcover. For a full release breakdown, read Svet Atanasov's 4K UHD review.
Finally this week, Arrow Video has a box set: Robert Rodriguez's The Mexico Trilogy (1992-2003), a four-disc set which contains new Blu-ray editions of the first and third films, El Mariachi (1992) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), along with a 4K UHD upgrade for the second film, Desperado (1995). All three films contain original audio, with Dolby Vision HDR for the 4K UHD disc of Desperado. Extras include audio commentaries and new interviews with Robert Rodriguez across all three films, new cast and crew interviews, featurettes and much more. Limited edition content includes an "illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Carlos Aguilar and Nicholas Clement", double-sided foldout posters with original and new artwork and reversible sleeves. Finally, in addition to the box set, Desperado will also be available individually as a Limited Edition 4K UHD SteelBook package. For full release breakdowns, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Mexico Trilogy review and 4K UHD SteelBook review.