Zitat:
Dear Collectors,
thank you for the very long wait for the title PREDATOR.
We will briefly recapitulate the history so far regarding this
project. In October 2019, we were approved by the Fox studio to
produce the exclusive SteelBook PREDATOR and all relevant numbered
editions. After the production and delivery of this SteelBook, it
remained in the stock of the distribution partner Bontonfilm,
which, due to problems in the media market, decided to withdraw
from the distribution of physical media, and this matter
technically took place during 2020, when the SteelBook PREDATOR
remained in its warehouses. After that, the acquisition of FOX was
completed, the titles and rights of which were transferred to
Disney, there was a technical change in the distributor in our
market. In September 2021, the Disney studio verbally confirmed to
us through the words of distribution that we could release the
SteelBook PREDATOR. However, the new distributor requested
re-approval of individual numbered editions. At the time, we
thought that to undergo this procedure once more was primarily
decency within the framework of good relations with the partner who
helped us to regain the SteelBook PREDATOR from the outgoing
distributor. In addition, once approved editions should not be a
problem to approve and publish in an accelerated mode, except for
cosmetic minor things. Unfortunately, we've been waiting for two
years already, and logically it seems too much for everyone,
especially if the studio and distribution still haven't given us
objective reasons why we can't send the Fox studio-approved
editions to customers.
That is why we decided to proceed according to the original
scenario when all rights but also obligations, claims, and
liabilities should be transferred to the new acquirer of rights. In
the same way, the exclusive SteelBook PREDATOR should be released
according to the original concept approved by the Fox studio, it is
polite to replace or update some copyrights as far as
possible.
But now to the point. The final approval of the studio to send the
editions, for which we have been waiting for so long, is tied to
the delivery of physical media, which we do not yet have. That's
why we came up with the option to offer you individual PREDATOR
editions without discs. The paradox is that both Blu-ray and 4K
Blu-ray discs are on sale all over the world, but we still can't
get our hands on them. The whole project has already cost us a lot,
both in terms of effort and financial resources, and we honestly
don't know when the studio will approve the delivery of the discs.
In addition to financial and reputational losses, the whole project
cost us a lot, and we don't want to wait any longer. We need to get
the editions to the customers in order to at least partially cover
the total costs and finally finish this project. The delivered
editions will contain everything we showed you in the beauty shots,
the only thing missing will be the discs. Originally, we wanted to
offer customers two options: 1) send without discs to those who do
not want to wait any longer and 2) wait for discs for those who are
not in a hurry, but we are not interested in extending this delay,
which is beyond the normal limit, any longer, because on the one
hand, we need to free up space in the warehouse and at the same
time end speculation about what is going on behind the scenes. Any
other solutions would only mean further delay. That is why we come
up with this proposal. For those who do not want to accept editions
without discs, we offer the option of canceling the order and
refunding the money. Due to the high costs of this project, we are
unfortunately unable to provide a discount for the delivery of
editions without discs. We will offer canceled orders to interested
parties on waiting lists. We are not sure whether there will be any
editions left for free sale after the processing of the waiting
lists, therefore we will announce any free sale in advance by bulk
email or on the e-shop.
Our decision is not one you make every day, it took us long, but we
can see it as the only option to deliver the coveted and
long-promised exclusive SteelBook to customers. We won't completely
satisfy you, however, in our opinion, we did the best we could do
and in time. It is possible that this decision will bring us even
more unplanned problems, but it is the only option to avoid
delaying the solution for months or years.
Regarding PREDATOR editions, we will send you information by email
during this week, about when and how it is possible to cancel your
order. About a week or two before we have it completed, we will
send another email with information that we are preparing an
expedition. For the E1, E2, E3, and E5 editions, we estimate this
already during October, E4 box will take a couple more weeks.
Unfortunately, we will have to postpone the release and
distribution of the next upcoming editions by this time, because we
will be using our assembly and shipping team to the maximum.
Thank you for understanding our proposed solution and for your help
in writing the history of the exclusive SteelBook PREDATOR.
With warm regards,
Jan for the Filmarena team