Universal Pictures Celebrates 100 Years of Movie Magic
Universal Pictures is poised for a busy 2012! It is embarking on an ambitious film restoration effort and will be releasing a slew of new special edition Blu-rays. The studio is kicking things off with the release of a new logo to commemorate their 100th Anniversary and will be holding special celebrations at their theme parks this year. Their mantra for this celebration is to make the old seem new again. The studio will be completely restoring 13 films--ranging from 1930′s All Quiet On The Western Front to 1993′s Schindler’s List.
Other films included are as follows: Both 1931 versions of Dracula, Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Abbott and Costello’s Buck Privates (1941), Pillow Talk (1959), To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), The Birds (1963), The Sting (1973), Jaws (1975) and Out of Africa (1985). If you are counting, that is only 12 films. The studio is doing 13 films, and is restoring both 1931 versions of Dracula including Bela Lugosi’s famous English-language picture and the Spanish version that was filmed on the same sets at night.
Here is what Universal President and COO Ron Meyer had to say in an interview with Deadline:
“One hundred years is such a great milestone. I am a movie lover. It’s such an important part of the American culture, a part of the heritage of this country. I think we have a responsibility to our employees, to the public to celebrate not just a milestone but celebrate the movie business, and this gives us a reason to do it."
Here is what Meyer said about Pillow Talk:
“What a great movie. I have four children who don’t know these movies. They don’t know a Doris Day movie or Rock Hudson movies. And they are going to enjoy them when they see them. Once they see it they can appreciate it. There’s no way for even 30-year olds to know some of those movies unless they are film buffs,” he said.
A list of 100 notable films were chosen and then cut down to 13. According to Michael Daruty, SVP Technical Operations each film takes up to six months and is very expensive costing anywhere from $250,000 to $600,000 a title. Plans are being drawn up to tour the films as well and the blueprint is to accelerate restorations in the future.
Meyer shared his thoughts on restoration plans for the future:
“I would like all of our films to be restored and hopefully as the years go on more and more of them will be done. I think we need to do more film restoration, all of us need to do it. I think it is an important part of our initiatives. It’s an expensive process and a time consuming one and they have been totally on board in support of us doing this and encouraging doing it.”
For more information, please visit http://Universal100th.com.