A Clockwork Orange 40th Anniversary blu-ray celebrationUPDATE: As was expected (see below), Warner has now officially announced A Clockwork Orange: 40th Anniversary Edition for Blu-ray release on May 31, in a two-disc Digibook edition with new additional content.

in addition, the studio will release the nine-movie, ten-disc Stanley Kubrick Limited Edition Collection that includes Spartacus, Lolita (new to Blu-ray), Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon (new to Blu-ray), The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.

Special Features are to include:

  • Commentary by Malcolm McDowell and historian Nick Redman
  • Malcolm McDowell Looks Back: Malcolm McDowell reflects on his experience working with legendary director Stanley Kubrick on one of the seminal films of the 1970s (new)
  • Turning like Clockwork: the film's ultra-violence and its cultural impact (new)
  • Still Tickin': The Return of Clockwork Orange
  • Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making A Clockwork Orange
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures: Kubrick's career comes into sharp focus in this compelling documentary narrated by Tom Cruise. Fascinating footage glimpses Kubrick in his early years, at work on film sets and at home, augmented by candid commentary from collaborators, colleagues and family (new to Blu-ray)
  • O Lucky Malcolm!: Documentary about the life and career of actor Malcolm McDowell produced and directed by Jan Harlan

The 40th Anniversary Edition will be packaged in a 40-page Blu-ray Book with rare photos, production notes and more. See pic below.

 


To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the relationship between Warner Bros. and Stanley Kubrick, the studio will project seven of the American filmmaker's movies in theaters across France starting on June 1 of this year with Lolita, followed by 2001: A Space Odyssey, then A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining (in its US version, never released in French cinemas), Full Metal Jacket and finally, Eyes Wide Shut.

 

Also, we have word from Blu-ray.com that in conjunction with the celebration, the French version of Warner Home Video will re-release Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in a 40th-anniversary, 2-disk Digibook Blu-ray Edition… but only in France.

Of course, the dystopian masterpiece enjoyed its blu-ray debut in October of 2007, but we see from the pics below (thanks, Planeta HD) that this anniversary edition  will contain an additional disc to include two Kubrick documentary features: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (previously available only on DVD) and O Lucky Malcolm (already available on the first edition of A Clockwork Orange).

Could the fact that the documentaries are on a separate disc (the '07 release had the film and one documentary on a single disc) mean that the original print got a new scan? At the very least we know they won't just simply re-use the same disc that was included in the first edition and just throw in a new disc.

Also in conjunction with the 40th anniversary celebration, A Clockwork Orange will be be projected digitally at the Cannes Film Festival, featuring a new digital restoration. And the French Cinémathèque will host a Stanley Kubrick exhibition, with a 10,000 square feet area that will include displays of screenplays, correspondence, research documents, on-set photographs, costumes and props, as well as in-depth documentation on Kubrick's unfinished projects.

One time it's not great to be an American. No word yet on a Region 1 release.

Check out the pic of the digibook release below:

A Clockwork Orange Blu-ray Digibook