Did Lucio Fulci's Zombie release hurt Blue-underground money wise?

[fceurich39]

I am just thinking they spent alot of money if Zombie's blu-ray remaster/restoration and limited theatrical release is why 2012 was a poor year for Blue Underground. I was expecting some more big releases in sept/oct but all we got like we got most of 2012 from them was triple feature dvds and the single disc rereleases of Zombie and Maniac which oddly enough were Blue-Underground's 2011 and 2010 big fall titles!!!!

[Katatonia]

Blue Underground has been relatively quiet of late. There are still some old titles that could use the Blu-ray treatment.

I kinda doubt Zombie hurt them financially though, I would rather think it would have helped them out if nothing else.

[zbinks]

Zombie might be their most popular title. The bigger problem apparently is what their retailers are requesting of them.

Here's a post that came up on the Blu-Ray.com forum about a month ago in response to an inquiry regarding their status.

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

Just received the following reply from the BU team, Good of them to reply

Hello Rich,

Thanks for your email. We actually released new single-disc Blu-rays of ZOMBIE and MANIAC for Halloween! Many retailers requested these releases because they thought the 2-Disc Special Editions were too expensive for their customers and wouldn't carry them, so we complied with a cheaper alternative. We've also had numerous requests by our retail partners to release low-priced multi-feature DVDs, as they claim that is all people buy now. So we've been very busy releasing several waves of the MIDNIGHT MOVIES COLLECTION. Regarding the Larry Cohen Blu-ray releases, they are on hold for now due to licensing issues and/or lack of materials to do new HD transfers. Should those issues be resolved, we will announce the releases on our website. We are always trying to work out agreements with our licensors to release our catalog on Blu-ray, but it's really out of our hands as we rely on the licensor's interest and ability to do so. Many do not want to undertake the expense for new HD transfers or don't have the proper materials available to do so. We are also always looking to acquire new titles to release on DVD and Blu-ray, but we are rather picky and won't just release any old movie. But if all works out as planned, we should have some interesting new titles coming out in 2013.

Best regards,
The Blue Underground Team

They also responded to a Facebook inquiry recently.



Hopefully that's not just lip service, as 2012 has definitely been an off-year for them, especially compared to the solid 2011 release schedule they had.

[X-human]

Yeah I was about to mention the Blu-ray.com email. Retailers are not interested in selling 2-disc special editions of movies like Zombie 2. They want cheap fodder so BU revamped everything for that this year. Either way I hope they sold enough to make it all worth while. I'd be bad if Zombie can't even break even in this market.

Bill Lustig always claims to have this huge tidal wave of titles about to burst through and blow our minds but it's always the same shit different pile kinda stuff. Since the transfers on almost everything they release is also questionable at this point I almost want them to throw in the towel. Blue Underground has not crossed over to HD very well at all.

[Erick H.]

In case anyone cares ZOMBIE and MANIAC will be screened at the Carolina Cinema in Durham,N.C. later in the year,dates are up on their website.Both will be in 35mm.

[DVD-fanatic-9]

And...

This is why I still don't do Blu-Ray. (However, I would have re-purchased Deep Red had they done some new extras on it. A-nother 2-disc of Zombie... Why? It's a superficial film anyway, so a strong transfer is good enough as a stand-alone feature. So, I'm plenty happy with my old 2004 disc. However, Deep Red's Region 1's are pretty naked. A 10-minute "25th Anniversary Featurette"? Halloween 4 was treated better than that.)