TedStixon

24th Jul 2020

The Ring Two (2005)

Question: Is there any reason why this is the only film in the American "Ring" series to not have an R1/A Blu-Ray release? It seems so weird that the first and third films are available in HD, while this one isn't. Is it like a studio issue or something?

TedStixon

Answer: Whelp, just to update my own question, the movie is finally getting a Blu-Ray (and 4K) release in October through boutique company Shout Factory. Presumably, it just wasn't seen as a necessity until more recently, with boutique physical media labels becoming more and more prevalent and being successful in the collector's market.

TedStixon

Answer: More and more studios are not releasing films on Blu-Ray because of the higher risk on the return of their money. It's more expensive and home media sales continue to decline, especially with streaming services available. DreamWorks Pictures was the distribution company for the first two films while Paramount Pictures was the distribution company for the third film. I don't know specifically why DreamWorks opted out of the third film, but it seems they didn't think the third film would be worth it financially and probably has similar thoughts about the 2nd film's home release. There's much more to it, including parent companies involved and whom they contract out for disc distribution, that I don't have answers to about why DreamWorks hadn't released "The Ring Two" on Blu-Ray.

Bishop73

Trivia: In the original script, Merrick commits suicide to stop Lothos from turning him into a vampire. The studio thought the scene was too much of a downer, and made Joss Whedon rewrite his death-scene to have him instead be stabbed by Lothos.

TedStixon

Trivia: Contrary to popular belief, Seth Green is actually not the only person to appear in both the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film and series. Actor Chi Muoi Lo also appears in both - playing a background vampire in the movie, and having a small uncredited part in the season 7 episode "Storyteller." While both roles are small (pretty much blink-and-you'll-miss-it), he technically did appear in both.

TedStixon

Trivia: Supposedly David Bowie and Mick Jagger were supposed to have cameos as vampires in the film in one scene, in a sort-of reference to their music video for "Dancing in the Street." Unfortunately, time and financial constraints put an end to this idea.

TedStixon

Trivia: The movie was partially the result of a country-music and pop-culture legend. Sandollar Productions, a studio that helped finance the film, was co-founded by Dolly Parton of all people. Sandollar also went on to be involved with the TV series and its spin-off "Angel." (Though Parton herself was not credited).

TedStixon

15th Jul 2020

First Daughter (2004)

Trivia: Coincidentally, another film with a similar story was made around the same time - "Chasing Liberty." That film came out first and flopped at the box office. Its failure caused the producers of this film to push back its release date, as they wanted to distance the film from "Chasing Liberty" as much as possible. Unfortunately the tactic failed, and this film did even worse at the box office.

TedStixon

15th Jul 2020

First Daughter (2004)

Trivia: The final film of famed composer Michael Kamen, who passed while working on the score. Blake Neely was brought in to finish Kamen's work.

TedStixon

4th Jul 2020

Scooby-Doo (2002)

Trivia: Writer James Gunn originally wrote the film to be a darker, edgier comedy geared more towards adults who grew up with the original cartoon than geared towards children. (His intention was for the film to be rated PG-13.) However, it was edited down to a family-friendly PG rating after parents complained during test-screenings, and because the studio felt the film should ultimately be aimed at children. Among the content cut for the PG rating was a kiss between Velma and Daphne, some crude jokes, and footage with (very) visible cleavage, which had to be covered up with CG.

TedStixon

29th Jun 2020

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Trivia: The film was originally going to be directed by Harold Ramis, but he stepped down due to creative differences with the casting.

TedStixon

29th Jun 2020

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Trivia: Tim Allen wasn't the original choice for Jason Nesmith. The producers and original director wanted Kevin Kline to star in the film as Jason, but he turned it down. Reportedly, Alec Baldwin loved the script and campaigned aggressively for the role and was also considered, but ultimately wasn't chosen.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw III (2006)

Trivia: As part of a promotional gimmick, Lionsgate auctioned off posters for the film for charity. What makes the posters special is that star Tobin Bell donated a vial of his own blood to be mixed in with the red ink used for the posters.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw III (2006)

Trivia: A specialist had to be brought in to verify that the maggots used in the "pig vat" trap were technically edible, as there was the very real chance one of the maggots could fall into someone's mouth during filming.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw II (2005)

27th Jun 2020

Saw III (2006)

Trivia: Co-star Bahar Soomekh reportedly really doesn't like horror movies because they terrify her, and she had nightmares almost every night while making the movie.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw II (2005)

Trivia: Shawnee Smith was pregnant during filming, and tried to keep it a secret from the crew. Director Darren Lynn Bousman only found out because Smith's daughter once blurted out "There's a baby in mommy's belly!" one day while meeting with Smith to discuss the film.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw III (2006)

Trivia: "Scary Movie 4" had an extended sequence parodying the first "Saw" movie and even featured a replica of the infamous bathroom from the first two movies. It has been widely reported (but never officially confirmed) that the producers of "Saw III" actually bought the bathroom set off the producers of "Scary Movie 4" to use in this film, as it was cheaper to re-purpose and re-configure the set than to build a brand-new one for this movie.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw II (2005)

Trivia: The film's original poster was banned from theaters due to it being too graphic. It featured the image of two severed fingers, which make up the "II" in the title. A second poster was released that cropped out of the bloody "stumps" at the bottom of the fingers.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw (2004)

Trivia: The film was originally intended to be released direct-to-video, but it got such a positive response during its first screening at the Sundance Film Festival, Lionsgate decided to release it in theaters. It paid off, as "Saw" ended up spawning a franchise and becoming one of the most financially successful horror series of all time.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw (2004)

Trivia: Throughout the film, there are several montages of still photos. This wasn't a style choice - the budget was so tight and the shoot was so fast, they didn't always have time to get all the shots they needed. So they used photographs taken by an on-set photographer to help pad out several scenes.

TedStixon

27th Jun 2020

Saw (2004)

Trivia: One day, co-star Cary Elwes looked over to talk with director James Wan, and noticed Wan was sitting on a small, wooden apple-box just a few inches off the ground. Elwes questioned Wan about where his director's chair was, and was shocked to learn that the budget was so tight, they evidently couldn't even afford chairs for the major crew members. Elwes evidently went to the producers and demanded that Wan, a first-time feature director, get a proper director's chair, and eventually one was purchased.

TedStixon

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