Brian Ward drops hints on Vol's 20 and 21!

[Justin T]

In a post over at the Shout! Factory message board in a thread where fans have speculated about what episodes will be on
Volume 20, Brian Ward posted this yesterday

Still working on XX, but hmmmm... We may have just locked in
XXI. And that one's a DOOZY!

Brian

The thread is here www.shoutfactory.com/community/3351/thread.aspx

Hmm, Brian said a Doozy for 21. Could it be they finally found the rights holders for Puma Man? Or cleared something that was thought to be near impossible from a major studio like Universal or MGM? A Season 3 episode? Plenty to speculate about.

I also find it interesting 20 is not set in stone yet, and 19 is just a few weeks a way from release. He's said that 3 out of the 4 episodes for 20 are locked in. Wonder if they have a few choices to use for the last slot and haven't decided what to go with, or are they still trying to secure something that they want.

A very interesting tease from Mr Ward.

[travis]

After the last couple of sets, I'd say almost anything non-Japanese was possible. haha.

[torgortega]

they are already working on 21 when 20 isn't even complete yet? stop teasing us

[Torgo]

I have my fingers crossed that maybe they finally talked Kadokawa Pictures into letting them release an MST Gamera pack. I had high hopes that their awsome Gamera releases this year helped them get their foot in the door, and they spent the last few months sweet talking the rights holder.

It'd be ideal if they upped it to 5 episodes so they can include all in one set, but if you have only one episode lefto on the volume that comes before it, I wouldn't mind if they bumped one to volume 20.

That's speculation on my part, though. I know it's a long shot, but I can dream, can't I?

[cyaniderush]

Excellent news indeed!
Can't wait for volume 19. I think I'll watch some Rock Climbing tonight in anticipation.

[disco316]

Since this isn't the first time Mr. Ward's let loose that 3/4 of a set was locked in, I get the feeling they've probably locked in the majority of the rights budget, and now they're just looking to see if they can get another episode for what's left, or whether they have to put in a PD ep.

As for the possibilities for XXI, if the whole set's possibly set, I wouldn't be surprised if some or all of the potential titles are related. Whether that means items they've already licensed (Gamera, the Corman titles) has suddenly come on the table or if another avenue (Lippert films Canadian rights no longer an issue, a major studio joining forces) became a reality, I really don't know.

Actually, given their dealing with Corinth, and the rights issues with Rocketship XM being similar to that of the Lippert films, if XM is on XX, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lippert films on XXI. I love this time of year.

[notundercovercop32]

From what I can tell, Rocketship XM doesn't fall into the same category as the other lippert films because Corinth has released the DVD in Canada.

[Ratso]

I refuse to get excited. Maybe we'll get lucky and get the Master Ninja episodes or Space Travelers... but I doubt we're gonna get any Gamera or Lippert stuff.

It's painful being a Mst3k fan sometimes.

[mrmeadows]

Intriguing, from B. Ward, in response to a question about whether or not there would less time between sets if XXI is already "locked in":

<<Eh, XXI's a tad bit tricky. You'll understand why soon-ish. I wouldn't necessarily expect a shorter turnaround. But it should be a fun set. If everything goes according to plan *fingers crossed*, we'll announce XX on release day of XIX and follow it up with an "additional announcement" on Turkey Day. No promises, as there are some things that need to be taken care of first, but keep an eye out.>>

What could the "additional announcement" be..?

[wedestroymyths]

i can't imagine the "additional announcement" will be XXI so soon. I wonder if it will be a bonus feature announcement, or the announcement of a significant agreement with one rights holder or another, or maybe a tease/hint?

I can't even begin to imagine.

Okay--after visiting the thread, it looks like they might be planning the XXI announcement on Turkey Day. His second to last post says: "So look for that [XX announcement]--and maybe more--on Thanksgiving. Can't promise the "more" part, but I may be beg and plead. We'll see."

Then the second one moves the XX announcement to release day, meaning they've probably got it locked in by now, and that XXI has a few kinks to work out, but will be ready soon, and is exciting enough that it may warrant an early announcement?

Ah, the anticipation. Well, we're just about two weeks away from the first announcement (and the much anticipated arrival of XIX).

So the question on XXI then, is what could make the set "tricky"? A more difficult transfer? Difficult marketing? Unconventional rights maneuvering? Bward's conspicuous use of "tricky" makes me think that we're either getting some movies that have always been in bad shape sound/video-wise, or we're getting something we weren't expecting...

God, I love this show.

[ca20]

I will be equal parts thrilled and disappointed if the big announcement is that they have tracked down the rights for Puma Man.

[Justin T]

Well, things are getting more interesting over there. People have been
asking for more hints from B Ward and he's doing his best not to give
too much away. He's mentioned that
"I can say that I've seen two correct answers and two that were almost correct, meaning they were going to be in the box before we landed two different titles. So, we've shelved them for a future set(s). Brian"

Interesting, so they had 2 episodes they were going to put on XX but then 2 other ones became available so they put the first 2 aside for later
sets so they could get the 2 new ones, which means they have to be highly sought after ones for them to make that move.

So someone compiled a list of the episodes people have listed in their guessing attempts. Here is the list

Alien From LA
Black Scorpion
Brute Man
Castle Of Fu Manchu
City Limits
Code Name: Diamond Head
Colossus vs. The Headhunters
Daddy-O
Danger! Death Ray
Day the Earth Froze
Deadly Bees
Deathstalker & the Warriors From Hell
Diabolik
Escape 2000
Eye Creatures
Fire Maidens
Fugitive Alien
Gamera
Godzilla vs. Megalon
Gorgo
Hercules
Hercules & the Captive Women
High School Big Shot
Horror of Party Beach
Human Duplicators
Invasion of the Neptune Men
Invasion USA
Jungle Goddess
Magic Voyage of Sinbad
Master Ninja I
Outlaw
Painted Hills
Project Moonbase
Puma Man
Quest Of The Delta Knights
Revenge of the Creature
Riding With Death
Rocket Attack USA
Rocketship XM
Samson vs. The Vampire Women
Screaming Skull
Slime People
Squirm
Sword & Dragon
Teenage Caveman
Teenage Crime Wave
Thing That Wouldn't Die
Time of the Apes
Track of the Moon Beast
Viking Women vs. The Sea Serpents
Village of the Giants
Violent Years

So after looking at this list, He said the following.:

Okay, from that list, there are three confirmed for XX. And it looks like four others on that list are available for future volumes, though not necessarily all together. We just know we have them available to us.

Brian

So from that list of alone, 3 are on Vol XX while 4 more are going to
be on future volumes .

Its a long list, but it can be narrowed down. Any public domain movies are automatic locks and can be used by Shout at any time. So take those out and then go from there.

I can't wait till he announces what's on XX and what else he has in store to announce on Thanksgiving. The speculation can drive you crazy

[mjkjets]

Thanks for keeping us informed Justin. That Thanksgiving announcement is interesting. Did they make a huge deal with a new rights holder ? Could they be involved in bringing MST3K re-runs back to TV?

[ds_36]

If I'm looking at the correct numbers there's 90 episodes (excluding KTMA) unreleased and there's 53 episodes named above. That's over half of the unreleased episodes. Obviously if you guess enough titles you will have the correct answers in there somewhere. Ward posted again later that 3 episodes were named that will be on volume 20. I'm more surprised that nobody threw out the 4th episode.

[mrmeadows]

Oct 28, 2010 22:00:21 GMT -5 ds_36 said:

If I'm looking at the correct numbers there's 90 episodes (excluding KTMA) unreleased and there's 53 episodes named above. That's over half of the unreleased episodes. Obviously if you guess enough titles you will have the correct answers in there somewhere. Ward posted again later that 3 episodes were named that will be on volume 20. I'm more surprised that nobody threw out the 4th episode.

Yeah...might be easier to try and guess the 4th episode than figuring out the other 3 from the above list.

My guess? SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL (based on absolutely nothing.)