"The Grandmaster" International Theatrical Poster
While the Weinstein Company has finally announced an August 2013 release date for Wong Kar-wai’s highly anticipated anticipated martial arts epic The Grandmaster in North American theaters, we still don’t know which version of the film it will be. Given the Weinstein Company’s history, there’s always the chance that they’ve further edited the movie to cut down on the runtime or some other form of censorship.
Why take the risk? The Grandmaster is coming to Import Blu-ray and DVD on April 23rd, 2013, and the Region A Blu-ray will play on your standard North American Blu-ray player or Playstation 3.
Trusted retailer DDDHouse is offering the Region A Blu-ray for $29.49. Meanwhile, if you have an import player you could opt for the Region 3 DVD for $17.31.
Hardcore collectors might want to spring for the Limited Edition Steel Book Blu-ray for $63.86. One advantage to the Steel Book is that it releases earlier, on April 15th.
I’ll probably end up seeing it in theaters, since WKW was allegedly the one who supervised the international cut. Plus, it’ll probably do bad business, anyway, since it’s in late August, and people are pretty tired of the crowded box office by now. [This is the one time Harvey *can’t* be blamed for not putting the film out earlier.] So I kinda feel sorry for it.
Spoke too soon. Thanks, @aicnanime, @darylsurat, and @criterioncorner. http://www.film.com/movies/wong-kar-wai-the-grandmaster-ruined-by-american-cut