About a week and a half ago, the following post by Kerry Gammill was made on
The George Reeves Yahoo Group (free registration required):
This may be old news but I was just told that Doug Pratt's DVD-LaserDisc Newsletter reported that an official ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN DVD set is in the works at Warners and will be coming out either this year or next.
Here is the actual report that is being spoken of,which you can find right
here:
This year, we asked for a separate, single listing of the most wanted TV boxed sets. ...The second most requested title, with just under 3%, the old Adventures of Superman, is going to come out from Warner within the next year or two.
Michael J. Hayde was the first of you to write in about the Yahoo Group post, saying in closing that "I hope you guys have a way of verifying this!" Thanks for the note, Michael, and we did indeed follow up with property-owner Warner Brothers about this.
So let's get right to it: Warner Home Video responded to our inquiry by replying that this "won't be coming out in 2004".
Frankly, that makes sense to us: as it stands right now, a new
Superman theatrical film has been
announced for a 2006 target release (written by
Alias and
Felicity creator J.J. Abrams!). It's quite likely that Warner will hang on to the original television series just long enough to tie its DVD premiere in with a promotion of the new film. That's just speculation, but a look at similar DVD releases tied into cinema celebrations will let you in on just how probable that possibility is. Why do you think so many DVD releases come with "movie cash" promo tickets these days? Because not only does the upcoming movie remind not-so-serious fans of the TV show that the series is out on DVD, but the promo ticket inside the DVD helps remind fans of the series that a new film is in theaters. These kind of cross-promotions are very successful, and it's hard to blame studios for holding off on a DVD release for a bit to make them happen.
In the case of a series that is from 1953, it's not a bad idea to take the extra production time in any case, to clean up the source material from 50 years worth of dirt, scratches, fading, etc. We're certain Warner can make good use of the time to give us a great transfer of an older show, when they're ready to bring it to DVD.
Despite what could be at least a year-long wait for this, we will of course keep an eye out for any further news that develops. If any news comes our way, we'll bring it to you faster than a speeding bullet, so stay tuned for further updates.
