Scandinavian release set for October 8

Universal Pictures Scandinavia has confirmed with BTTF.com a R2 release date for October 8, 2002 for the Back to the Future Trilogy boxed-set.

Our contact in the Scandinavian office, which we understand covers releases for European countries including Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, reports that they will also release the first film as a separate release on the same date.

I'm told that this will be a strong PR driven title, with marketing set to begin very soon.  They are aware how prop-filled the films are, and while nothing is yet set in stone, they will apparently be taking advantage of this aspect during the marketing & publicity campaign.

In other R2 news, U.K. magazine DVD Review is reporting that the forthcoming BTTF release is set for August 22, 2002.  At this point, we've been unable to confirm any of the U.K. dates we've heard so far, but we are expecting a late August or early September release to be announced soon.  Stay tuned... [Thanks to 'Brian' for the U.K. date alert !]

Zemeckis to shoot “Polar Express” in Hi-Def?

Corona's Coming Attractions is reporting that Robert Zemeckis will be shooting a test scene today at Sony Studios to see if The Polar Express will get greenlighted for a Christmas 2003 release.

According to the report, Tom Hanks will be on set today to shoot the test with Zemeckis, who wants to shoot the entire film in high-definition.  Zemeckis will likely get his way if the test footage shot this week turns out right in this film format.

— Stephen Clark

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