Time Warner and Elvis On Tour

it gets worse.

Elvis attracts a special kind of fan. Yip.

The fans who are interested in this are the same ones that pay out for FTDs every quarter. And we know those figures are a mere 5000 at most.

I'm pretty much with you on what you have said in the thread. I think you are being a little pessimistic about the sales potential though. Other, non-FTD titles, which are available from regular stores and big online retailers, have sold a lot more than FTDs in recent years. The Elvis Duets had a lukewarm reception from fans, but has still sold something like 500,000. Viva Elvis sales were way below what was hoped for, but still must have been in the tens of thousands. Now I am of course not suggesting that the type of On Tour release we are talking about would sell 500,000, but I think that sometimes the FTD figures can give a false idea of how many people will still buy Elvis products. Think about how many people paid to see Elvis The Concert during 2012. You have to be a fan to pay to see a guy who isn't in the building, and a whole lot more than 5,000 did so.

A lot of people who don't buy many or any FTDs now, would buy an On Tour release.

"Elvis attracts a special kind of fan. Yip." Again more fan and fellow poster bashing. Really??? If you want to argue, argue but the world can do without the self-congratulatory dismissals.

The problem isn't Elvis' popularity as a selling point. Something like Uncovered has already moved 15,000 units (the success point for a reissue) with absolutely zero publicity, albeit at a bargain price. The problem is that physical media is dying, not a rate that the suits think it is, but at a rate that scares them from spending money on anything. I was recently complaining to a friend that Victor/Victoria was now in Warner's Archive made to order mail order series. Originally that series was designed for rare movies that had never been on DVD. That's not Victor/Victoria which was released on DVD early in the last decade. It says something about the current corporate DVD market that a major company believes a Best Picture nominee with two major still living stars is not even worth putting in stores anymore.

This is kind of why the US needs to re-examine the idea of the public domain laws. If there weren't such a tight corporate grip on things and the need to pay royalties into infinity, someone might be able to come up with a nice little restoration of Elvis on Tour with the bootleg footage out there and the Lost Performances footage as a nice bonus. The trouble with projects like this one being in corporate hands is that corporations aren't generally interested in little niche projects that make a tidy profit they'd rather make millions on Spiderman or some such and sit on the treasures they somewhat undeservingly own. It's very sad that Warners which was the best of the best in terms of the corporate owners in the early days of DVD has gotten so wary of the reissue market. As a corporate steward, they did yeoman's work on just about everything until about 2008 when I guess sales just didn't match what the suits wanted. I wish our laws were designed so that if they don't want to, someone else can take a crack. I mean this is old footage, this is not Spiderman. They can have their time with something like that. But the ability to hold onto rights of footage basically forever is not good for anybody.

For me, I would have been happy with an Elvis on Tour package that had the Lost Performances footage as a bonus. Still, butchered opening or not, what they did do was not negligible. The sound on the recent release was an absolute revelation. I keep my bootleg of the old movie and this one as well. Plus, they did the nice little booklet for Blu fans.

I got an idea if you want Elvis On Tour released on DVD with bonus features and interviews like TTWII Special edition.

You have to ask the question how many Elvis fans are there in the United States that would be interested in buying an Elvis on Tour special edition DVD?

If the answer is 1 million fans you may be able to sell the idea to Time Warner.

You must show Time Warner that a lot of Elvis fans would buy it not just the limited number of die hards on internet forums.

People are always saying that Elvis is the most popular entertainer and that he has the most fans out of anyone.

If you want it done then show Time Warner how many Elvis fans there are.

They'd put it out if EOT would make money for them.

Do it now while the TCB band members, Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito are still alive to provide commentary.

Brian, it's not only US sales that matter. There's a big Elvis market outside the US and that would be considered. But, you are very optimistic if you believe that one million sales are likely for an Elvis On Tour project.

The truth is that Elvis isn't an unpopular as the pessimists make out, but he's also not one of the biggest artists in the world now in terms of sales. Why would he be? The vast majority of fans are casual fans and they are pretty happy with what they have in their collection. Some really big fans also show much more discretion now about what they will buy. A few years ago, I bet a lot more of us would have bought the recent "I'm an Elvis Fan" and it's not because we are no longer fans.

Brian, it's not only US sales that matter. There's a big Elvis market outside the US and that would be considered. But, you are very optimistic if you believe that one million sales are likely for an Elvis On Tour project.

I didn't say i thought it was likely.

I was saying to all the people that want EOT released on DVD to try and get Time Warner to release it by doing something instead of talking.

It is pointless for these debates that we have about the DVD releases because it always ends up with people talking about what Time Warner or EPE should do.
.
If these fans really want it released they should promote the cause and try to drum up interest outside of the die hard Elvis fans.

I think 1 million DVD sales in the U.S. is a good start for a goal.

If you do show Time Warner that 1 million fans would buy the DVD then they might start to listen.

Starting a debate on a message board about why EOT hasn't been released with bonus footage isn't going to change anything.

I don't know what the figures are but I guess only the Hollywood blockbusters of blockbusters sell in the millions of copies although as Alexander showed Aloha combined, over a very long time did move a million units.

That being said TJ is right. Elvis, while not the sensation he was in 1956 or 1977, is still a very profitable endeavor for movie and record companies. If that were the case, all 33 Elvis films would not still be in print, and would not still be endlessly repackaged as they are. The UA films alone have been repackaged, at least, four times now. The Paramounts and the MGMs similar totals.

Yay, SF!

I got an idea if you want Elvis On Tour released on DVD with bonus features and interviews like TTWII Special edition.

You have to ask the question how many Elvis fans are there in the United States that would be interested in buying an Elvis on Tour special edition DVD?

If the answer is 1 million fans you may be able to sell the idea to Time Warner.

You must show Time Warner that a lot of Elvis fans would buy it not just the limited number of die hards on internet forums.

People are always saying that Elvis is the most popular entertainer and that he has the most fans out of anyone.

If you want it done then show Time Warner how many Elvis fans there are.

They'd put it out if EOT would make money for them.

Do it now while the TCB band members, Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito are still alive to provide commentary.

Great idea! But it needs to be a worldwide strategic marketing plan. Not just for the United States. Time-Warner needs to know who is and how many are visiting Graceland, young and old, buying Elvis dvds and cds on a demographic level. It also needs to be when the economy is sturdy enough to move units, otherwise it will be a failure. TW could also consider making a bran new EOT type of film where all new footage is used and make it a theatrical release with it going to dvd a few months later. That way, they make back the money they spent to restore the footage and promotion costs just off of ticket sales. They would then make a profit off of dvd sales. That's how Michael Jackson's estate made up so much debt that he owed, was by putting This Is It in theaters and gaining back big revenue off of ticket sales then dvd sales.

I got an idea if you want Elvis On Tour released on DVD with bonus features and interviews like TTWII Special edition.

You have to ask the question how many Elvis fans are there in the United States that would be interested in buying an Elvis on Tour special edition DVD?

If the answer is 1 million fans you may be able to sell the idea to Time Warner.

You must show Time Warner that a lot of Elvis fans would buy it not just the limited number of die hards on internet forums.

People are always saying that Elvis is the most popular entertainer and that he has the most fans out of anyone.

If you want it done then show Time Warner how many Elvis fans there are.

They'd put it out if EOT would make money for them.

Do it now while the TCB band members, Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito are still alive to provide commentary.

Great idea! But it needs to be a worldwide strategic marketing plan. Not just for the United States. Time-Warner needs to know who is and how many are visiting Graceland, young and old, buying Elvis dvds and cds on a demographic level. It also needs to be when the economy is sturdy enough to move units, otherwise it will be a failure. TW could also consider making a bran new EOT type of film where all new footage is used and make it a theatrical release with it going to dvd a few months later. That way, they make back the money they spent to restore the footage and promotion costs just off of ticket sales. They would then make a profit off of dvd sales. That's how Michael Jackson's estate made up so much debt that he owed, was by putting This Is It in theaters and gaining back big revenue off of ticket sales then dvd sales.

We should make sure that this argument doesn't go down route of "This Is It made money so EOT will too". This Is It was a hit not just because of MJ fans going to see it or buying it, but because the artist in question had died a few months earlier and therefore the general population wanted a piece of the action or, at worst, they had a morbid curiosity of whether MJ would have pulled off those concerts had he not died. It's no different to the surge in LP sales when Elvis died.

We also need to remember that the people going through Graceland may very well no be fans willing to shell out on a DVD. YMWTBB did not sell hundreds of thousands of copies, despite hundreds of thousands of people going through Graceland. And while to us that package only had 30 minutes of unreleased material, to all but the 5000 fans who buy FTDs, most of the outtakes would have been new too.

But yes, if someone could persuade Warner that X amount of people would buy the EOT footage then it would get released. The problem here is that this can't be done. A petition online would garner perhaps a couple of thousand names. You can't point to recent Elvis DVDs selling huge numbers unless you go back 8 years to the 68 special and the aloha sets - but, again, these were historically important shows and EOT is not. What's more, that was nearly a decade ago. No recent Elvis release has sold in huge quantities.

LTB, although I don't agree with everything he says, has clearly pointed out that better, more respected films are being released only through burn on demand dvds - including classic musicals that people have lobbied to get on DVD for years, such as Good News, the Mario Lanza films, Tom Thumb, Rhapsody In Blue, and Meet Me In las Vegas - the last two of which are full of cameos so that they would appeal to collectors of any number of stars.

I don;t think the copyright laws are an issue here - they would never be made so that material from 1940 years ago could be bought for a song. They are a problem with early film though and in the way that LTB describes. The material is under copyright but the studio can't make money from it as the market is too small, and the grey market labels can't put it out either, and so it rots. The issue for EOT is principally the same, but to hope or suggest that laws with cut 50 years of copyright is just folly, sadly.

I got an idea if you want Elvis On Tour released on DVD with bonus features and interviews like TTWII Special edition.

You have to ask the question how many Elvis fans are there in the United States that would be interested in buying an Elvis on Tour special edition DVD?

If the answer is 1 million fans you may be able to sell the idea to Time Warner.

You must show Time Warner that a lot of Elvis fans would buy it not just the limited number of die hards on internet forums.

People are always saying that Elvis is the most popular entertainer and that he has the most fans out of anyone.

If you want it done then show Time Warner how many Elvis fans there are.

They'd put it out if EOT would make money for them.

Do it now while the TCB band members, Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito are still alive to provide commentary.

Great idea! But it needs to be a worldwide strategic marketing plan. Not just for the United States. Time-Warner needs to know who is and how many are visiting Graceland, young and old, buying Elvis dvds and cds on a demographic level. It also needs to be when the economy is sturdy enough to move units, otherwise it will be a failure. TW could also consider making a bran new EOT type of film where all new footage is used and make it a theatrical release with it going to dvd a few months later. That way, they make back the money they spent to restore the footage and promotion costs just off of ticket sales. They would then make a profit off of dvd sales. That's how Michael Jackson's estate made up so much debt that he owed, was by putting This Is It in theaters and gaining back big revenue off of ticket sales then dvd sales.

We should make sure that this argument doesn't go down route of "This Is It made money so EOT will too". This Is It was a hit not just because of MJ fans going to see it or buying it, but because the artist in question had died a few months earlier and therefore the general population wanted a piece of the action or, at worst, they had a morbid curiosity of whether MJ would have pulled off those concerts had he not died. It's no different to the surge in LP sales when Elvis died.

We also need to remember that the people going through Graceland may very well no be fans willing to shell out on a DVD. YMWTBB did not sell hundreds of thousands of copies, despite hundreds of thousands of people going through Graceland. And while to us that package only had 30 minutes of unreleased material, to all but the 5000 fans who buy FTDs, most of the outtakes would have been new too.

But yes, if someone could persuade Warner that X amount of people would buy the EOT footage then it would get released. The problem here is that this can't be done. A petition online would garner perhaps a couple of thousand names. You can't point to recent Elvis DVDs selling huge numbers unless you go back 8 years to the 68 special and the aloha sets - but, again, these were historically important shows and EOT is not. What's more, that was nearly a decade ago. No recent Elvis release has sold in huge quantities.

LTB, although I don't agree with everything he says, has clearly pointed out that better, more respected films are being released only through burn on demand dvds - including classic musicals that people have lobbied to get on DVD for years, such as Good News, the Mario Lanza films, Tom Thumb, Rhapsody In Blue, and Meet Me In las Vegas - the last two of which are full of cameos so that they would appeal to collectors of any number of stars.

I don;t think the copyright laws are an issue here - they would never be made so that material from 1940 years ago could be bought for a song. They are a problem with early film though and in the way that LTB describes. The material is under copyright but the studio can't make money from it as the market is too small, and the grey market labels can't put it out either, and so it rots. The issue for EOT is principally the same, but to hope or suggest that laws with cut 50 years of copyright is just folly, sadly.

You're missing the whole point. This Is It was still a theatrical release first and for a main purpose. To gain revenue off of mass ticket sales and to take advantage of a situation, his death. The same would be for "newly discovered concert footage" of Elvis still physically healthy and rocking before the end began.

Young Man With A Big Beat was a release of previously RELEASED material that the world over has heard a hundred times (1956). It was more of a nostalgic project. So of course it wasn't going to set the charts or sales figures on fire and it wasn't expected to. Whereas a newly produced project with unseen concert footage would be a much bigger sale. Look at the hoopla around some amateur 8mm film footage being released on Prince From Another Planet. If that can gain steam and media coverage then so would professional filmed concerts. This is not rocket science.

I got an idea if you want Elvis On Tour released on DVD with bonus features and interviews like TTWII Special edition.

You have to ask the question how many Elvis fans are there in the United States that would be interested in buying an Elvis on Tour special edition DVD?

If the answer is 1 million fans you may be able to sell the idea to Time Warner.

You must show Time Warner that a lot of Elvis fans would buy it not just the limited number of die hards on internet forums.

People are always saying that Elvis is the most popular entertainer and that he has the most fans out of anyone.

If you want it done then show Time Warner how many Elvis fans there are.

They'd put it out if EOT would make money for them.

Do it now while the TCB band members, Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito are still alive to provide commentary.

Great idea! But it needs to be a worldwide strategic marketing plan. Not just for the United States. Time-Warner needs to know who is and how many are visiting Graceland, young and old, buying Elvis dvds and cds on a demographic level. It also needs to be when the economy is sturdy enough to move units, otherwise it will be a failure. TW could also consider making a bran new EOT type of film where all new footage is used and make it a theatrical release with it going to dvd a few months later. That way, they make back the money they spent to restore the footage and promotion costs just off of ticket sales. They would then make a profit off of dvd sales. That's how Michael Jackson's estate made up so much debt that he owed, was by putting This Is It in theaters and gaining back big revenue off of ticket sales then dvd sales.

We should make sure that this argument doesn't go down route of "This Is It made money so EOT will too". This Is It was a hit not just because of MJ fans going to see it or buying it, but because the artist in question had died a few months earlier and therefore the general population wanted a piece of the action or, at worst, they had a morbid curiosity of whether MJ would have pulled off those concerts had he not died. It's no different to the surge in LP sales when Elvis died.

We also need to remember that the people going through Graceland may very well no be fans willing to shell out on a DVD. YMWTBB did not sell hundreds of thousands of copies, despite hundreds of thousands of people going through Graceland. And while to us that package only had 30 minutes of unreleased material, to all but the 5000 fans who buy FTDs, most of the outtakes would have been new too.

But yes, if someone could persuade Warner that X amount of people would buy the EOT footage then it would get released. The problem here is that this can't be done. A petition online would garner perhaps a couple of thousand names. You can't point to recent Elvis DVDs selling huge numbers unless you go back 8 years to the 68 special and the aloha sets - but, again, these were historically important shows and EOT is not. What's more, that was nearly a decade ago. No recent Elvis release has sold in huge quantities.

LTB, although I don't agree with everything he says, has clearly pointed out that better, more respected films are being released only through burn on demand dvds - including classic musicals that people have lobbied to get on DVD for years, such as Good News, the Mario Lanza films, Tom Thumb, Rhapsody In Blue, and Meet Me In las Vegas - the last two of which are full of cameos so that they would appeal to collectors of any number of stars.

I don;t think the copyright laws are an issue here - they would never be made so that material from 1940 years ago could be bought for a song. They are a problem with early film though and in the way that LTB describes. The material is under copyright but the studio can't make money from it as the market is too small, and the grey market labels can't put it out either, and so it rots. The issue for EOT is principally the same, but to hope or suggest that laws with cut 50 years of copyright is just folly, sadly.

You're missing the whole point. This Is It was still a theatrical release first and for a main purpose. To gain revenue off of mass ticket sales and to take advantage of a situation, his death. The same would be for "newly discovered concert footage" of Elvis still physically healthy and rocking before the end began. .

The point PoormadPeter is making is very simple.

This is it was released to theaters shortly after Michael Jackson passed away which garnered huge media attention and got a lot more fans than just MJ die hards.

The reason it did well was because there was more interest in MJ right after his death than there otherwise would have been.

EOT re-released to theaters wouldn't have the same draw among the masses only the diehards because Elvis died 35 years ago not recently.

Did you not read PoormadPeter's post about being literally the only person at a screening for the That's the way it is special edition?

I completely believe that, had TTWII SE been a huge financial success, that we would have had a similar EOT venture by now. But it wasn't. And many will blame the fact that it was shown on TCM before it went to video, but we buy DVDs of TV series and programmes that have just been shown on a very regular basis. The TCM showing was the biggest advert the DVD could have had. And, no doubt, every hardcore fan bought that DVD release, and still it wasn't deemed a big enough success to risk money on the next venture.

Did you not read PoormadPeter's post about being literally the only person at a screening for the That's the way it is special edition?

I did read that. But did he also read where I stated back pages ago that when EOT was released to American theaters in 2010 that it was a major success? Sold out many US theaters for the one night it played. I also pointed out too that TTWII Special Edition came out back in 2001, before a new crop of Elvis fans came along. Elvis' sales prior to 2002 were dismal at best. Since then, he's had several top 10 to top 40 albums. 30 Number One Hits (#1), Second To None (#3), Elvis By The Presleys (#15), Viva Elvis (top 40), Christmas Duets (Top 20), An Afternoon In The Garden (#28). If That's The Way It Is had come out today instead of 2001, it would have charted and pretty high at that. All one has to do is look at the recent success of The Elvis Experience in Brazil and you will see (A) that Elvis is still a major draw and has unlimited appeal fan following and (B) can still draw in thousands to see him perform on a video screen. If he can do that in an arena with footage already available on dvd, then he should be able to pack them into a smaller theater for a NEW feature presentation.

I completely believe that, had TTWII SE been a huge financial success, that we would have had a similar EOT venture by now. But it wasn't. And many will blame the fact that it was shown on TCM before it went to video, but we buy DVDs of TV series and programmes that have just been shown on a very regular basis. The TCM showing was the biggest advert the DVD could have had. And, no doubt, every hardcore fan bought that DVD release, and still it wasn't deemed a big enough success to risk money on the next venture.

Do you really want to know why the project failed? Aside form it being released on an "old folks" channel to begin with (TCM), it lacked commercial advertising. Another reason was the false information that was released PRIOR to it's dvd release. The info was about a 15-30 minute additional documentary of unseen footage that was cut just before it was released. Fans were ticked off to say ti nicely and felt cheated. So they didn't bother to buy it since many had already recorded it from the TV airing.

Did you not read PoormadPeter's post about being literally the only person at a screening for the That's the way it is special edition?

I did read that. But did he also read where I stated back pages ago that when EOT was released to American theaters in 2010 that it was a major success? Sold out many US theaters for the one night it played..

It did not do as well as you are making out.

If you want it released do as i suggested.

Do a get out the vote type campaign with Elvis On Tour.

Trying to convince PoormadPeter and others on this board why it should be released is pointless.

Did you not read PoormadPeter's post about being literally the only person at a screening for the That's the way it is special edition?

I did read that. But did he also read where I stated back pages ago that when EOT was released to American theaters in 2010 that it was a major success? Sold out many US theaters for the one night it played. I also pointed out too that TTWII Special Edition came out back in 2001, before a new crop of Elvis fans came along. Elvis' sales prior to 2002 were dismal at best. Since then, he's had several top 10 to top 40 albums. 30 Number One Hits (#1), Second To None (#3), Elvis By The Presleys (#15), Viva Elvis (top 40), Christmas Duets (Top 20), An Afternoon In The Garden (#28). If That's The Way It Is had come out today instead of 2001, it would have charted and pretty high at that. All one has to do is look at the recent success of The Elvis Experience in Brazil and you will see (A) that Elvis is still a major draw and has unlimited appeal fan following and (B) can still draw in thousands to see him perform on a video screen. If he can do that in an arena with footage already available on dvd, then he should be able to pack them into a smaller theater for a NEW feature presentation.

Yes, it sold out many US cinemas on the ONE NIGHT it played - because it only played for ONE NIGHT. had it played for seven nights, it would simply have meant that the audience of the one night would have been spread over seven different ones.

And to suggest that fans didn't buy TTWII because this or that wasn't included on the DVD is poppyc*ck. There was enough new material in the recut film, both from rehearsals and live performances, to make every Elvis fan go out and buy that DVD - and no doubt they did. I have yet to hear one person on this board say that they did not buy the TTWII SE because extra footage was not included. Not one. Hell, most fans get excited at the prospect of one unreleased take on a CD, let alone new video footage. And when that unseen footage WAS included on the double disc of TTWII, fans moaned because it wasn't in good enough quality.

And the idea that a sellout concert in Brazil is an indication of DVD sales is ridiculous. Again, one fan goes there with his entire family. That's four tickets sold for every fan who might buy a DVD. What's more, seeing the concert is an event (I don't see the attraction personally, but that's neither here nor there). Not everyone who went to the olympics is a sports fan. They went because it was an event.

And Brian, it's not a case of trying to persuade me that this should be released. I would love to see it released, in the same way that I would love to see every film sitting in the vaults released. BUT, we can not look at this objectively if we look at it as a fan. We have to step back and look at the cold hard facts. And the facts are that Warner financed the special edition of TTWII and it basically flopped.

What's more, Elvis CDs are not selling in huge numbers. On one hand there is the argument on these boards that reaching the top of the charts these days means practically nothing because you don't have to sell many copies any more, but then when Elvis hits the charts with a #28 album we deem this a huge success and an indication that huge numbers of his CDs are being shifted. You can't have it both ways.

I'm not trying to put the dampener on all this. I am just being honest and logical. Someone would need to go to Warner and say X amount of this product by Elvis sold last year, so we can safely assume that the same numbers would shift of this product. That's easy to go. But X is not a high enough figure to pay for and produce a profit on something like the EOT products being talked about here. In this climate, companies are looking at getting a guaranteed product, they are not looking for a scenario where they might be able to just about recoup their costs.

Did you not read PoormadPeter's post about being literally the only person at a screening for the That's the way it is special edition?

I did read that. But did he also read where I stated back pages ago that when EOT was released to American theaters in 2010 that it was a major success? Sold out many US theaters for the one night it played. I also pointed out too that TTWII Special Edition came out back in 2001, before a new crop of Elvis fans came along. Elvis' sales prior to 2002 were dismal at best. Since then, he's had several top 10 to top 40 albums. 30 Number One Hits (#1), Second To None (#3), Elvis By The Presleys (#15), Viva Elvis (top 40), Christmas Duets (Top 20), An Afternoon In The Garden (#28). If That's The Way It Is had come out today instead of 2001, it would have charted and pretty high at that. All one has to do is look at the recent success of The Elvis Experience in Brazil and you will see (A) that Elvis is still a major draw and has unlimited appeal fan following and (B) can still draw in thousands to see him perform on a video screen. If he can do that in an arena with footage already available on dvd, then he should be able to pack them into a smaller theater for a NEW feature presentation.

Yes, it sold out many US cinemas on the ONE NIGHT it played - because it only played for ONE NIGHT. had it played for seven nights, it would simply have meant that the audience of the one night would have been spread over seven different ones.

And to suggest that fans didn't buy TTWII because this or that wasn't included on the DVD is poppyc*ck. There was enough new material in the recut film, both from rehearsals and live performances, to make every Elvis fan go out and buy that DVD - and no doubt they did. I have yet to hear one person on this board say that they did not buy the TTWII SE because extra footage was not included. Not one. Hell, most fans get excited at the prospect of one unreleased take on a CD, let alone new video footage. And when that unseen footage WAS included on the double disc of TTWII, fans moaned because it wasn't in good enough quality.

And the idea that a sellout concert in Brazil is an indication of DVD sales is ridiculous. Again, one fan goes there with his entire family. That's four tickets sold for every fan who might buy a DVD. What's more, seeing the concert is an event (I don't see the attraction personally, but that's neither here nor there). Not everyone who went to the olympics is a sports fan. They went because it was an event.

And Brian, it's not a case of trying to persuade me that this should be released. I would love to see it released, in the same way that I would love to see every film sitting in the vaults released. BUT, we can not look at this objectively if we look at it as a fan. We have to step back and look at the cold hard facts. And the facts are that Warner financed the special edition of TTWII and it basically flopped.

What's more, Elvis CDs are not selling in huge numbers. On one hand there is the argument on these boards that reaching the top of the charts these days means practically nothing because you don't have to sell many copies any more, but then when Elvis hits the charts with a #28 album we deem this a huge success and an indication that huge numbers of his CDs are being shifted. You can't have it both ways.

How many artists do you know that sell huge numbers on a yearly basis? Better yet, how many of them are non living? I'll wait for your answer.

As for TTWII. I got news for you, yes there were MANY that didn't buy it because of the very reasons I mentioned.

Warner doesn't care if Elvis is living or dead, they care about whether there is money in this venture. I have laid out quite clearly the costs involved for a straightforward restoration programme of the EOT footage. I have yet to see any proof that Elvis product is guaranteed to shift the numbers involved. No matter how much of a fan I am, if I was head of Warner I would say "no" to the project as well.

So, get your petition going, and let's see how many thousands of names you get on it. I guarantee you won't get past 7,000

"Elvis attracts a special kind of fan. Yip." Again more fan and fellow poster bashing. Really???

Bashing? C'mon - you're special to us all!

Hugs?

Any fan who seriously suggests that the daughter of their idol has a duty to throw her money away on a project to make fans happy deserves to be verbally bashed.

Lisa is obligated to Elvis fans this much:

.

The sooner fans accept this the better.

Like Jerry I'm in the camp of wanting a true representation of Elvis On Tour on BluRay first - this hasn't happened yet. If Warner are too cheap and lazy to not bother with Johnny B. Goode you can bet your bottom dollar giving the fans a nice complete show from the April tour - as awesome as that would be - ain't going to happen.

Either way it will be a small seller, this is inescapable.

EPE is obligated to do a multiple DVD Deluxe edition Elvis on Tour. I wonder how much money will cost for the 4 concerts filmed to be released in their entirety? I don't think too much. I am not very excited about the rehearsals (Elvis seems bored and sometimes uninspired in them) but I care very much for the very exciting 4 filmed concerts. So let's move on and made a petition to EPE to begin this project!!

EPE is obligated to do a multiple DVD Deluxe edition Elvis on Tour. I wonder how much money will cost for the 4 concerts filmed to be released in their entirety? I don't think too much. I am not very excited about the rehearsals (Elvis seems bored and sometimes uninspired in them) but I care very much for the very exciting 4 filmed concerts. So let's move on and made a petition to EPE to begin this project!!

Does anyone actually read threads before they post in them?

As I have already stated, a bog-standard restoration of this type of material is around $75,000 per hour of footage. For each one hour concert, you probably have 4 or 5 different camera angles. That means each concert would cost approximately $350,000 to restore. That's a total of $1.4million for the 4 concerts. (without editing costs etc)

As you say, not too much,

As has been stated earlier, Aloha and the 68 comeback are legendary events. Elvis On Tour is just a concert film. While the TV specials might be of interest to more casual fans and general rock enthusiasts because of their legendary status, Elvis On Tour would not be.

Reality check. "Elvis On Tour" is a concert documentary that won a MAJOR award, a Golden Globe. It was the first to not only document what he was currently doing but also his breakthrough in the 1950s, incorporating kinescope TV footage from 1956, which gave the film an added historical pedigree.

Reality check. According to TCM, currently 3.6% of all films in their database are currently available on dvd in the USA. While those figures might not be totally accurate (especially as it probably doesn't include short films), it does give an indication of how lucky we are to have the amount of material available to us as Elvis fans - including 100% of Presley's movie output. We could probably count on one hand the amount of film stars who have 100% of their output on DVD:

Not Sinatra,
not Crosby,
not John Wayne,
not Steve McQueen
not even Alfred Hitchcock.

And yet fans feel they are hard-done-by.

As I've said before, unlike the tampered-with, official DVD, any proper representation of the MGM film means a fully-restored version of what was seen in theaters in 1972. Until this happens, fans do not have 100% of Presley's movie output.

Again, it is this version of "Elvis On Tour" that shared the 1972 Golden Globe Best Documentary Film award with "Walls of Fire."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Fire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Golden_Globe_Awards#Best_Documentary_Film

The 30th Golden Globe Award ceremony was held on Sunday, January 28, 1973 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Presley was at the Las Vegas Hilton, in his suite between shows. He was watching from the bathroom when the news broke that "Elvis On Tour" won, and he came hopping out, excited over the honor.

Imagine what an elite DVD label Criterion would do if they got the chance to release a DVD/BluRay of "Elvis On Tour."

The Criterion Collection
http://www.criterion.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Criterion_Collection

A good point. I also agree with what steve in SC wrote.

Thanks.

"Elvis On Tour" is not "just a concert film," and until we see this award-winning documentary released officially as it was seen in theaters 40 years ago, it is a crucial part of the Presley legacy that true fans lack.