Why are none of 2Pac's movies on Blu-Ray?

[GangstaBoogy]

I know there's a concert bd but why are none of his movies even in the process of being released? There's a huge fan base if movies like Juice and Poetic Justice. Is there an issue with his estate?

[MUHFUKKA]

theres alot of movies still not on blu ray

[doublee313]

I know there's a concert bd but why are none of his movies even in the process of being released? There's a huge fan base if movies like Juice and Poetic Justice. Is there an issue with his estate?

I think is because he was claiming a Blood and there's no Red-Ray.

[Hack Wilson - real]

blu ray is gay

[abusive]

lmao @gangstaboogie piru ray

[GangstaBoogy]

Ugh what happened to this forum?

[Jimmy H.]

The Illuminati is keeping his Blu-Rays off the shelves.

[DeeezNuuuts83]

It's because it's a bad financial investment.  Anyone who cares to own Pac's movies probably already owns the DVD (or some bootleg rip of it), and it's not a big quantity of people either.  Yes, the fanbase is a good size, but they're not all going to buy them, just like they didn't all buy the DVDs when they came out long before Blu-Ray was even out.  So for them to go through the process of converting into HD isn't worth the money, especially when it's not like the original stuff was in such high quality anyway.  At best they might sell a few thousand copies.  I know I won't be buying them, since I'm fine with the DVDs and similarly haven't upgraded anything in my DVD collection to the Blu-Ray, with very, very few exceptions.

[Blood$]

yeah I already have all of them on DVD except Poetic Justice and Bullet which I've actually never seen

wouldn't be willing to sell all the DVDs and go re-buy them on Blu Ray lol the only movie I plan to re-cop soon is Goodfellas since I have to flip my disc over to watch the whole film 

[Seagully]

Ugh what happened to this forum?

[Jimmy H.]

DeeezNuuuts83, you seemed to be greatly misinformed about movies and home media in general.

It's because it's a bad financial investment.

No.  It is not. Between theatrical, home video, cable, and television, these movies are all in the black. HD masters exist for mostly all of them as most networks would require them so they could be picked up.

Anyone who cares to own Pac's movies probably already owns the DVD (or some bootleg rip of it), and it's not a big quantity of people either. 

Once again, wrong. There are millions of people out there who love to watch and collect movies. For those with high-level HD TV's and surround systems, watching their favorite movies on standard definition video or DVD won't cut it.

Yes, the fanbase is a good size, but they're not all going to buy them, just like they didn't all buy the DVDs when they came out long before Blu-Ray was even out.   

The big misconception here, and this was more started by the initial thread, than specifically by you, is that films that feature Tupac in them only appeal to Tupac fans and hip-hop heads exclusively. There is an audience beyond that for some of these films. And using the DVD sales argument would only work if it was clear that not enough bought them, which isn't likely the case.

So for them to go through the process of converting into HD isn't worth the money, especially when it's not like the original stuff was in such high quality anyway.   

This theory is wrong all over the boards. I'm assuming you have HD conversion confused with film restoration, which is very expensive and time-consuming, and is usually reserved for specific films where there is an audience for it and/or need to preserve for a given purpose. New audiences grow everyday. We're not just talking about selling physical discs to thirty-year-old males who already own these movies on DVD and VHS anymore.

With an HD master, the film also can be sold through video-on-demand channels, distributed for cable, and so on and so forth. They do this kind of shit everyday with much smaller films that don't have nearly as big an audience.

As for the original stuff not being in "such high quality anyway". I can't even understand where you're coming from. All these films were shot on 35MM film. Film stock is actual higher quality than HD and blows away DVD picture. Maybe some will argue that the cinematography of these films just isn't worth seeing in the best quality possible but there's not much I can say to a person who would honestly question upgrading from a pan & scan VHS copy of a film they love to a digital or high-definition one.

At best they might sell a few thousand copies.   

I would actually say at worst, they would only sell a few thousand. It would cost them less than a dollar to manufacture per disc. Depending on what they're charging for SRP, they're clearing anywhere from $4-$12 a copy. That sounds like profit to me.

Let's also keep in mind.  Most of these movies we're talking about.  Right now, those same companies are still paying to have them manufactured on DVD.

I know I won't be buying them, since I'm fine with the DVDs and similarly haven't upgraded anything in my DVD collection to the Blu-Ray, with very, very few exceptions.

So what is your point exactly? That Blu-Rays will only turn profit for titles that YOU want to buy?

[Sir Petey]

I know there's a concert bd but why are none of his movies even in the process of being released? There's a huge fan base if movies like Juice and Poetic Justice. Is there an issue with his estate?

I think is because he was claiming a Blood and there's no Red-Ray.

you win.

[DeeezNuuuts83]

No.  It is not. Between theatrical, home video, cable, and television, these movies are all in the black. HD masters exist for mostly all of them as most networks would require them so they could be picked up.

But that's not what is in discussion.  The thread starter was asking why none of Pac's movies are available in BLU-RAY format.  I have no problem with the movie being available in HD format.

Once again, wrong. There are millions of people out there who love to watch and collect movies. For those with high-level HD TV's and surround systems, watching their favorite movies on standard definition video or DVD won't cut it.

All of Pac's movies were released in the '90s, when VHS was the dominant format.  By the time DVDs were the new standard while being accessible to the average person and pretty much any movie you'd want was available in DVD format in the 2000s, it would be a rare occasion where a household had a Pac movie or two on DVD, unless there were a serious Pac fan in that household.

The big misconception here, and this was more started by the initial thread, than specifically by you, is that films that feature Tupac in them only appeal to Tupac fans and hip-hop heads exclusively. There is an audience beyond that for some of these films. And using the DVD sales argument would only work if it was clear that not enough bought them, which isn't likely the case.

Since there isn't really a source that makes DVD sales numbers available, then the argument can go in either direction since we can't really prove how good or bad a DVD sold.  But outside of Juice and Poetic Justice and maybe even Above the Rim, the movies weren't really given much thought outside of the hip-hop fanbase, especially when it's not like the other movies got good reviews anyway.  Even Gang Related, with all of its stars, had poor ratings.  And at the same time, there are movies that didn't quite take off at the box office but really found a large following when it hit home media, like Shawshank Redemption, Donnie Darko, etc.  I never really heard much about the other Pac movies gathering a even a cult following upon home media release, and it's not all magically going to change with a Blu-Ray release.

This theory is wrong all over the boards. I'm assuming you have HD conversion confused with film restoration, which is very expensive and time-consuming, and is usually reserved for specific films where there is an audience for it and/or need to preserve for a given purpose. New audiences grow everyday. We're not just talking about selling physical discs to thirty-year-old males who already own these movies on DVD and VHS anymore.

With an HD master, the film also can be sold through video-on-demand channels, distributed for cable, and so on and so forth. They do this kind of shit everyday with much smaller films that don't have nearly as big an audience.

As for the original stuff not being in "such high quality anyway". I can't even understand where you're coming from. All these films were shot on 35MM film. Film stock is actual higher quality than HD and blows away DVD picture. Maybe some will argue that the cinematography of these films just isn't worth seeing in the best quality possible but there's not much I can say to a person who would honestly question upgrading from a pan & scan VHS copy of a film they love to a digital or high-definition one.

The super 35 film doesn't necessarily mean it was in the greatest to begin with, otherwise every movie ever filmed would be in its best quality from the get-go with few adjustments needed.  But that's not always the case, even when comparing releases on the same format.  Compare the original Scarface DVD release (with the black-and-white cover) to the 20th anniversary digitally remastered, digitally restored, digitally whatevered DVD release (with the black-and-silver cover).  Or compare the original Terminator 2 DVD to the later special releases, like the Ultimate Edition (with that silver metal case) or the Extreme Edition (with the Terminator exoskeleton face on the cover).  Yeah, I owned all of those that I just mentioned.  I used to read dvd.ign.com a lot when I was in college and pretty much buying DVDs every Tuesday morning, and they had very detailed side-by-side comparisons of re-releases.

So even though they all came from the same super 35 film, then there could be a lot of improvement that can be made from movies released two or more times on the same format, as we've seen before, like in the examples I mentioned.  And those updates required time and money to have it done.  It's not just someone pressing "enhance image" for the movie file on a computer.

So what is your point exactly? That Blu-Rays will only turn profit for titles that YOU want to buy?

No, my point was that I already own the DVDs and don't really plan on buying them if they came out on Blu-Ray.  If the quality is better by 1% or 100%, like you said earlier, it could be argued that the cinematography doesn't really warrant that much sharper of an available copy.  Similarly, I own all of the Friday movies on DVD.  While I don't doubt that the movies on Blu-Ray (whether they are available or not) would be nicer, do I really care to upgrade my copy to HD for another $10-20?  Not really.  But some special effects-heavy movie would be a different story.  My movie collection is already cluttered as it is, and I don't really need to buy two of the same movie, especially when Blu-Ray players play DVDs too.

Also, the problem with actually releasing a BLU-RAY variant of each of Pac's movies is the fact that the financials need to be in line, like I mentioned.  We've talked about the costs of converting it (along with whatever remastering/restoring that needs to occur in the process) and then pressing up the discs themselves and shipping them out against how many people would go to stores (or Amazon) and buy them, but with so many people just keeping stuff in the Cloud, it's way easier for people to just download movies digitally through iTunes, Flixster, etc. since it's so easy to use and play on a number of devices these days, and there's no need for a disc.  Skipping a Blu-Ray release and just going straight to digital release is likely a lot easier for them to do behind the scenes and easier to meet the demand (rather than guessing how many copies to press and hoping that stores order them).

[Jimmy H.]

Since there isn't really a source that makes DVD sales numbers available, then the argument can go in either direction since we can't really prove how good or bad a DVD sold.  But outside of Juice and Poetic Justice and maybe even Above the Rim, the movies weren't really given much thought outside of the hip-hop fanbase, especially when it's not like the other movies got good reviews anyway.  Even Gang Related, with all of its stars, had poor ratings.  And at the same time, there are movies that didn't quite take off at the box office but really found a large following when it hit home media, like Shawshank Redemption, Donnie Darko, etc.  I never really heard much about the other Pac movies gathering a even a cult following upon home media release, and it's not all magically going to change with a Blu-Ray release.

Films do not need cult followings to get Blu-Ray releases. Yes, if the studio is investing in making a "special edition" where they are going through the archives to find source material for special features and tracking down the filmmakers to do commentaries or featurettes. We're talking about taking existing material and packaging it as a disc to sell. It's not costly or financially risky.  There are plenty of films that have a far smaller following than Juice or Poetic Justice than wind up coming out on the shelves at a SRP of about $7 and still don't bankrupt their respective companies.  Echo Bridge specializes in this sort of thing.

The super 35 film doesn't necessarily mean it was in the greatest to begin with, otherwise every movie ever filmed would be in its best quality from the get-go with few adjustments needed.  But that's not always the case, even when comparing releases on the same format.  Compare the original Scarface DVD release (with the black-and-white cover) to the 20th anniversary digitally remastered, digitally restored, digitally whatevered DVD release (with the black-and-silver cover).  Or compare the original Terminator 2 DVD to the later special releases, like the Ultimate Edition (with that silver metal case) or the Extreme Edition (with the Terminator exoskeleton face on the cover).  Yeah, I owned all of those that I just mentioned.  I used to read dvd.ign.com a lot when I was in college and pretty much buying DVDs every Tuesday morning, and they had very detailed side-by-side comparisons of re-releases.
 

Once again, you're talking about restoration of the original negatives. The question was why there isn't a Blu-Ray version of these films, not why isn't there a digitally remastered special edition? To make a Blu-Ray, you need an HD master of the original print. The studios have them, hence why you can buy Juice or Poetic Justice on HD through Amazon's video-on-demand service.

Skipping a Blu-Ray release and just going straight to digital release is likely a lot easier for them to do behind the scenes and easier to meet the demand (rather than guessing how many copies to press and hoping that stores order them).

That's not how retail distribution works. They send out pre-order releases, months in advance, and the retailers put in their orders ahead of street date so the manufacturer knows how much physical product needs to ship to meet street date. 

[DeeezNuuuts83]

Films do not need cult followings to get Blu-Ray releases. Yes, if the studio is investing in making a "special edition" where they are going through the archives to find source material for special features and tracking down the filmmakers to do commentaries or featurettes. We're talking about taking existing material and packaging it as a disc to sell. It's not costly or financially risky.  There are plenty of films that have a far smaller following than Juice or Poetic Justice than wind up coming out on the shelves at a SRP of about $7 and still don't bankrupt their respective companies.  Echo Bridge specializes in this sort of thing.

I didn't say that a cult following was needed, but it helps warrant a re-release of some sort, regardless of whether we're talking about a bonus feature-filled special edition or a Blu-Ray update.  And how are you gauging the size of the followings of those movies that got the Blu-Ray treatment?  Box office gross?  Just curious.  (And it's not a fair comparison if you're looking at the box office gross of indie films that have extremely limited releases anyway that likely aren't going to generate much money, as they will rely more on the home media sales to generate profit.)

And whether it's costly/risky or not, it's still something where the company needs to ask themselves if it's worth their time and effort to put out physical copies of it.  Similarly, a lot of the more recent Death Row/WIDEawake releases had EXTREMELY limited releases for the actual CDs and relied more on selling the digital downloads.  Why?  Because most people these days will do the latter, and despite the potential audience for it being a few millions (which was Death Row's following at its peak), those that would actually buy it (whether the physical CD or the digital download) is far more limited.

Once again, you're talking about restoration of the original negatives. The question was why there isn't a Blu-Ray version of these films, not why isn't there a digitally remastered special edition? To make a Blu-Ray, you need an HD master of the original print. The studios have them, hence why you can buy Juice or Poetic Justice on HD through Amazon's video-on-demand service.

So basically, they'd do the same thing that they did when putting out the DVD release, but in Blu-Ray quality.  So any flaws in any of the frames will still be present (which was the case, as it's not as if the DVD releases were all of flawless DVD quality), except the Blu-Ray one is sharper and nicer on a bigger screen, which is kind of pointless.  Unless it is remastered.  Yes, I bring it up, but it's because they might as well clean it up in some way if they're going for a retail HD release.

That's not how retail distribution works. They send out pre-order releases, months in advance, and the retailers put in their orders ahead of street date so the manufacturer knows how much physical product needs to ship to meet street date.

But let's be honest... how many retail stores do you think will order it?  (Rhetorical question.)  I remember when Fast & Furious 6 came out (which was a huge movie -- close to $800 million worldwide at the box office), some big stores didn't have many copies of them.  There was a Target exclusive Steelbook Blu-Ray that came with the soundtrack (which I figured I might as well get, since all of the store exclusives were more or less the same price), and the first Target I went to didn't even carry it, and they only had maybe ten copies of the regular Blu-Ray there.  And that was when the store opened on the day the film was released.  I had to go to a second Target two or three miles away to find it, and even that store had only maybe twenty copies of it on Blu-Ray (including the special Target version).  Both were in highly populated cities, and we're talking about a very huge movie with a huge fanbase.  So I still have a hard time seeing a lot of stores ordering even a handful of Pac movies on Blu-Ray.

Don't get me wrong, Juice and Poetic Justice certainly have the best shot and would most warrant a Blu-Ray release more so than the other films, considering those two movies' accolades, reviews and relevance.  But it's just not a high priority for them.

Just my opinion.