I consider The optimists to be one of the lost films of Peter Sellers. I believe it failed in 1973 was because Sellers was on the wain at that time unitl he restarted his career with second serise of Panther films and Being There. And the fact that Childrens movies no matter how good they were didn't make very much money because people in those day didn't go see non-disney G movies. by releasing this film on dvd we can celibrate Peter Sellers fully. other films A Day at the Beach Ghost in the Noonday Sun
I seriously doubt this film would be released on DVD in order to "celebrate Peter Sellers fully" Whatever that may actually mean. It would be released in order to make some money.
It is surprising this isn't available on one of the many Peter Sellers box sets; perhaps now The Blockhouse and other rare offerings are leaking out it is only a matter of time.
'Hey Sony!!!!!!!!!!' what, exactly? Do you even know if Sony owns the rights to this movie (newsflash, they don't own it, it might be Paramount that does, as they were the distributor)? Do you even know if this would be a success on DVD or if it would even have decent DVD sales?
Before you put out posts like these, you (and everybody else ) should learn about business first, and how the decision to issue a DVD of a movie is made.
Apparently, Paramount sold the negative to Viacom, so that "The Optimists" has very rarely been shown, either at the cinema, or on TV. It was given a one-off showing at the BFI on 3 August 2015, after which Sarah Sellers took part in a Q&A session. It was clear from the audience's reaction that many would like to see the film made available on DVD. Over to you, Viacom....
And what if Paramount (NOT just Viacom) decides that this movie's not profitable to release on DVD? This company is a business, not a charity for film buffs like yourself.
The best bet might be that Olive Films (which has a distribution deal with Paramount to release older Paramount and Paramount-owned movies on DVD) would release it on DVD, or Criterion/Masters Of Cinema would/could, but it's up to those companies to do so. And again, this company (Paramount) is a business, not a charity for film buffs like yourself.
You're making an assumption that I'm a "film-buff"! Actually, I'm a retired expert in Charity Law, who was simply saying that there appears to be a demand - at least from the London filmerati - for the release on DVD of this film. Clearly, whether or not Viacom (or whoever) choose to release it is - as with all DVD releases - a commercial decision....