UPDATED - The 13 Films Universal Are Restoring And Reissuing To Mark Their Centenary

[Brendon Connelly]

2012 marks the centenary of both Paramount and Universal Pictures, and both will be celebrating.

First to lay out many of their plans are Universal. As well as revamping their globe logo with a new look and new audio, with this new version set to premiere with The Lorax in February, they're also promising a new wave of restorations and reissues from their catalogue.

The studio's president Ron Meyer, the man who notoriously layed into the studio's own Babe 2 and The Wolfman a couple of months back, has been speaking to Deadline about the anniversary plans.

There are twelve films due for full restorations (well, thirteen, in fact, but we'll come back to that), reissue on Blu-ray and, if all goes well, in a tour of cinemas. Here's the list:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Dracula (1931) Frankenstein (1931) The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Abbott and Costello?s Buck Privates (1941) Pillow Talk (1959) To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) The Birds (1963) The Sting (1973) Jaws (1975) Out of Africa (1985) Schindler's List (1993)

For a centenary celebration it seems a little bit of a missed opportunity, seeing how there's nothing from the teens or twenties, not to mention the oughts. And where are Ma and Pa Kettle?

Hopefully there's going to be space for some early shorts. This is the perfect opportunity to give By the Sun's Rays another shining.

The reason I'm counting 13 films is because both Dracula films from 1931 are being restored - Tod Browning's English langauge version, and George Melford's Spanish language version, filmed over the same weeks, on the same sets with mostly the same costumes and props.

Several other films will be making their Blu-ray debuts too, allowing Universal to release "Monster" and "Hitchcock" sets towards the end of the year. 2012 will also see the release of ET on Blu-ray, so good times for the Spielbergians.

I'm in for the horrors and the Hitchcocks and lot more of the big thirteen. Here's hoping the theatrical tour does happen, and maybe even that it gets beyond the shores of the US.

UPDATE: And here's a still version of the logo courtesy of EW.

[CammyKnoxville]

If they tour through my town, I'd definitely go to the theater and check them out.

[Cpt. Juan Langosta]

Same here on the theater tours, but Universal has already milked the Dracula cow a couple of times. I have a nice DVD edition with both films on it, then there were the Ultimate collections (the green case, multi-disc sets) for each of the monsters, including the Invisible Man. Seems like more Blu-Ray flimflam. They can, and should, do better for their 100th.

[Jason A. Quest]

Sounds like a great film fest. It'd be great to see some of these put on the big screen one last time.

I'm also relieved that Universal is redoing their logo. That animation of a post-apocalyptic Earth glowing with fiery radiation always disturbs me.

[Sparvid]

What's left to restore on Dracula and Frankenstein that wasn't already done for the 75th Anniversary DVDs?

[WednesdaysHeroes]

What's left to restore on Dracula and Frankenstein that wasn't already done for the 75th Anniversary DVDs?

If they were done 25 years ago, there's a LOT that can be done that couldn't be done then. Flicker, scratches, dirt, unsteadiness...all of that could only be slightly improved upon 25 years ago. High definition transfer...these will hopefully be restored using a 4K scan.

If done right, these new restorations will look fantastic.

[syon]

looks like a good list, but I can't believe that they're going with BUCK PRIVATES and not ABBOT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. For that matter, why not the Lon Chaney PHANTOM OF THE OPERA? There should be something from the studio's silent era.

[WednesdaysHeroes]

They comment here that this is to be a yearly exercise (fingers crossed). This should only be the first 13 of a long line of restorations.

[longbowhunter]

October NEEDS to be the Month of Universal Horror. If I could walk into a nice,big-screen movie theater and see Dracula,Frankenstein,and the Bride of Frankenstein all around Halloween I WOULD LOSE MY MIND!!!! Thats the kind of thing I would shell out the cash to see two or three times apiece...and I know I'm not the only Universal Horror Hound out there thats willing to do so. You can keep your crappy old SAW franchise...give me Universal Monsters any day of the week!!!

[Rootfireember]

Gah. A remastered Phantom would just be awesome. Last version I saw was a dying VHS of it in college...
Still a decent film. And I wouldn't mind having the draculas in my collection.