This past June we
reported that ADV Films was planning an early-August DVD release of
BeastMaster - The Complete Collection. The 18-disc set would collect the 3 seasons of the show together, with all 66 episodes in a classy-looking box set. But soon after the August 5th release date, we began hearing from fans that this was basically impossible to find. Amazon's release listing always said "currently unavailable", and DVDEmpire removed their listing entirely. What happened?
We've learned from an industry source that Tribune Entertainment, owner of
BeastMaster, has recently pulled the license from ADV Films for that program, and other Tribune-owned programs including
Mutant X, Andromeda, Farscape and the final 3 seasons of
Earth: Final Conflict. Well, we're not sure if "pulled" is the right term, or if they simply decided not to renew an expired agreement. In either case, the result is the same: ADV no longer holds the home video rights to these shows, so plans to release
BeastMaster and
Mutant X "complete collections" in the second half of this year had to be scrapped at the last minute.
Nevertheless, I can personally tell you that SOME copies of
BeastMaster - The Complete Collection have indeed trickled out to stores. Internet reports of seeing the package in Best Buy have been floating around, and I went to my local store and checked it for myself! Sure enough, I did find one lone copy sitting back in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie section (instead of the TV-DVD section). I'm looking right at my copy; the cost I personally paid was $37.99...your milage may vary, either in price or availability. So far I've only heard about Best Buy stores having it; no other chains have been mentioned. So if you want it, check there (and hurry, before they're gone). Good luck, and good hunting!
