Warner Bros. will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year and the Burbank studio is hardly commemorating with a “That’s all folks!” Instead, the studio, incorporated on April 4, 1923, is thinking big. Its Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group is releasing a 100-disc DVD best-of collection that spans from 1927’s “The Jazz Singer” to 2010’s “Inception.” Twenty-two Best Picture winners are included. Also available is a Blu-ray collection of 50 films, starting with 1932’s “Grand Hotel.” It includes seven titles released on Blu-ray for the first time. Both collections have a collectible poster and series of art cards based on the work of noted movie poster designer Bill Gold, who worked with such Hollywood notables as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Clint Eastwood. “We’ve put a lot of thought and care into the selection of these classics, and I think the results will be something movie fans – from the casual to the dedicated – will embrace,” said Jeff Baker, executive vice president and general manager, theatrical catalog for Warner Home Video, in a prepared statement. The studio will release the DVD and Blu-ray collections in January, and then release other material throughout the year, including two new documentaries. “Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot,” a behind the scenes look at the studio, and “The Warner Bros. Lot Tour,” a virtual representation of the studio’s popular tour. Other anniversary releases include five sets containing 20 films each in the genres of Best Picture, musicals, romance, comedy and thrillers; three sets of Looney Tunes and other animation; and a Superman TV collection. Suggested retail prices top out at $600 for the 100-disc collection. – Mark R. Madler
Warner Bros. Prepares to Turn 90
