Tim Burton's highly-acclaimed biographical film, Ed Wood (1994), is slated to be released on Blu-ray on September 18th, reports HighDefDigest.com.
Ed Wood is the strange-but-true story of Edward D. Wood, Jr., who has earned the reputation of being the "worst filmmaker of all time" for making such low-budget pictures as Bride of the Monster, Glen or Glenda?, and the infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space. The film stars Johnny Depp, Martin Landau (in an Oscar-winning performance as horror movie legend, Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, and Bill Murray, among others.
Special features and technical specifications for the Blu-ray release have yet to be announced, but the Blu-ray will sell for a retail price of $20.00.
The Blu-ray version of Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! is expected to hit shelves on September 7th, 2010, says DVDTown.com.
Tim Burton's 1996 science-fiction spoof was based on the macabre Topps trading cards of the same name. The film stars Burton regulars Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Sylvia Sidney, Lisa Marie, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and also stars Natalie Portman, Pierce Brosnan, Annette Benning, Glenn Close, Martin Short, Jack Black, Tom Jones, and many more.
The Blu-ray will carry an SRP of $37.77. Runtime is 107 minutes, and the film will be presented in its original 16x9 letterbox aspect ratio.
No word on what special features will be yet, and it should be noted that the release date is subject to change.
"It's so surreal that it's a bit of an out-of-body experience," he told MTV News at the MoMA. "So you don't actually feel like it's you; it's somebody else. But like I said, it's a cool honor. I got to see friends that I hadn't seen in many years. It's a real nice thing."
For the filmmaker, this artwork was meant to be more of a personal catharsis rather than made for public viewing. "I've been there [with therapists]. Done that," he joked. "Making movies is an expensive form of therapy, but it's better than therapy. I've had a couple of psychiatrists who were up there in that range."
Burton says he is not very good at drawing, but he likes the honest imperfections of his work. The flaws, the good things, the bad things — it's all a part of what makes it a piece of work," he explained. "I accept the flaws, as much as I may not like them. ... These things should be kept as they are. I grew up loving terrible movies, so you don't want them to change. You want them to be bad as ever."
The grand retrospective "Tim Burton" will be open to the public on Sunday, November 22nd. Members of MoMA can catch a preview of it now. Here are a few samples of the vast array of movie props, paintings, personal photographs, sketches, and artifacts featured in the exhibition (all images courtesy of MTV News):
The gaping maw leading to the beginning of the gallery.
A personal letter from Tim to Johnny Depp.
A conceptual painting of Brainiac for the unrealized film Superman Lives.
Another illustration of Brainiac for Superman Lives.
A painting of the Joker from Batman, the quintessential insane menace.
The disembodied heads of Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker from Mars Attacks!
Artwork from the making of Mars Attacks!, partially inspired by classic B-grade science fiction movies and pulp comics, but very much of Burton's original imagination.
Burton's fear of clowns on a massive scale, in the form of an alien invasion.
A video from YouTube user FGuts123, featuring more previews of the exhibition and some words from Burton himself at the podium during the MoMA press preview:
A rare promotional video from 1994 advertising Tim Burton's Ed Wood was recently found and posted on YouTube.com by John Erik Taylor. The short video (a little under seven minutes long) was shown at sci-fi conventions before the film's release, and features behind-the-scenes footage and unseen interviews with the cast and crew. This promo wasn't on the Ed Wood DVD, so fans of the film and Tim Burton will find this to be a rare treat.
The promo features interviews with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Martin Landau (in a highly memorable and moving performance as an aging Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker (as Dolores Fuller, Wood's girlfriend and actress), screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and make-up artist Ve Neill (a frequent Burton collaborator who first worked with the director on Beetlejuice).
Here's the link to the video on YouTube.com (you can also watch it below).
