Wondering what happened to that Criterion edition DVD of Steven Soderbergh’s two-part epic, “Che“? You’re not the only one. Originally it was announced for the fall and then as each month of autumn was announced and passed, it was basically unofficially said to be arriving that following month.
Well Criterion announced their line-up for December (which amounted to October and November titles being pushed into December) and the end of the year so what gives?
Well, according to Hollywood Elsewhere — who took the quotes from the collection’s newsletter (we musta missed that) — Criterion’s Peter Becker said, “We wanted to be ready for December, but Steven Soderbergh needed time to reconstruct some deleted scenes, and we were also able, in what we think is going to be a controversial coup, to persuade Che Guevara biographer Jon Lee Anderson to do commentaries on both films, but he also needed more time to prepare.”
So Becker said the disc will finally arrive January 2010. “As you can imagine there’s a wealth of great content getting developed. [But]… in short, it became clear that if we delayed the release a month we would be able to make a much better set. That’s a trade we will always make, even if it means we don’t get the benefit of sales in the holiday season, and we think that’s the kind of decision our collectors would want us to make.”
Hell, it’s true. Most of the other studios would rush this one in time for Christmas no matter what. Hey, that’s what money from your grandma at Xmas is for anyway, right? Can’t wait.