MovieChat Forums > Willard (1971) Discussion > Which company owns this?

Which company owns this?

posted 11 years ago by Oddark123
7 replies | jump to latest

As in which company do i ask for this to come to DVD?

I refuse to argue on IMDB until the general populous actually uses their brains

[–] ElectricWarlock 11 years ago

I would like to know that as well. I can't believe both this film and the sequel haven't been released on DVD yet. It's not like this is some obscure horror film only three people have ever heard of. This and the sequel are both pretty well known films among horror fans. I have a feeling there's a very decent sized audience who would pay for a DVD of this film and Ben so I don't know why they haven't done it yet. I would like to see some extra features of some sort for both films, but I'd even settle for just the theatrical trailers as long as both films are on DVD.

Come, fly the teeth of the wind. Share my wings.

[–] rrettino 11 years ago

Willard was distributed by Cinerama Releasing Corp but that was all they did-distribute. They probably held some rights for awhile but after CRC and Bing Crosby Productions (who actually financed and produced the picture) went out of business it's anyone's guess where the rights landed. My guess is that they are with Paramount who have the rights(home video anyway)to another CRC/BCP picture, Walking Tall.

[–] Absolved 10 years ago

I heard that the copyright on the film has expired, so any studio or production company that wanted the rights could buy it.

[–] stiv-7 10 years ago

Not likely with the current state of copyright laws. Both Paramount and Prism (whose successor in interest is Lionsgate) released VHS copies of the film.

[–] JoeKarlosi 10 years ago

I read somewhere (don't know how true this is) that the owners have vowed never to allow the movie to be issued to DVD, due to some kind of slander against it, or something. Supposedly Bing Crosby Enterprises had/have it. One thing is for sure - if the rights were available and wide open, both WILLARD and BEN would have been snatched up by Shout! or some other independent company a long time ago .. Let's keep our fingers crossed..

[–] bdhrentertainment 8 years ago

It's obvious that someone in the industry knows who owns the rights otherwise they wouldn't have been able to go forward with a remake. It seems like either the rights holder is holding the film hostage -or- is demanding some over the top amount of money for anyone interested in licensing the film.

Lionsgate is notorious for sitting on a ton of films in their library that fans want to see released.

[–] ElectricWarlock 8 years ago

Yes, I know many companies (like Kino Lorber, Scream Factory, Severin Films, Synapse, Olive Films, etc.) would jump at a chance to release a Blu-Ray of this film. If it were possible to released, one of those studios would surely have already done it. So whoever owns the rights must not be giving them up which is a shame. I know Scream Factory especially would give both this film and Ben the releases they have always deserved. They'd do a marvelous job and make both films look all cleaned up and beautiful. Too bad it may never happen.