Chilly Down
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2002
- Messages
- 994
- Reaction score
- 54
Thanks, Bliffenstimmers! I posted about this on FB as well, and a friend confirmed that Universal does own the theatrical distribution rights. Like you, I had known about Caper -- and The Dark Crystal, too, if memory serves -- but TMM surprised me.I'm guessing it was either misinformation or the rights for theatrical distribution are different from home video/tv. The only movie I know of that Universal had distributed with the Muppets was The Great Muppet Caper, as The Muppet Movie was released independently by ITC, so that makes things interesting too.
(There's a similar situation with The Princess Bride, where Fox owns the theatrical rights but not the home video, since they sold those back when the movie underperformed at the box office, even though now it's become a bona fide classic.)
I wonder if owning those theatrical rights has something to do with why NBC Universal still has some interest in the Muppets, with them showing up on Jimmy Fallon and America's Got Talent with some regularity. Then again, it's probably just a coincidence.
And while I agree with Cookie3001 up to a point -- I also like seeing things as they originally were in the theaters -- any studio re-releasing a movie is going to want their name on it, and a Universal logo (or any other) at the beginning isn't going to ruin my overall enjoyment of seeing TMM on the big screen again.