Recently, Elvis Australia
asked Todd Morgan of EPE for
comment regarding rumours
about Warner Brothers'
having cancelled plans to
release Elvis on Tour on
DVD. They also put forth for
his reaction a suggestion
regarding the future of the
bank of footage shot for the
films Elvis On Tour and
Elvis, That's the Way It Is.
They also asked Todd Morgan
if the story that Warner
Brothers' 2001 DVD release
Elvis: That's The Way It Is,
Special Edition did not sell
very well was true. And if
so was this causing Warner
to drop plans for the
anticipated Elvis On Tour
DVD release.
Todd's reply was "Elvis:
That's the Way It Is,
Special Edition was very
successful. There's no truth
to any rumour to the
contrary. There's also no
truth to the rumour that
Warner Brothers has
cancelled their plans for
the release of Elvis on Tour
on DVD. We should see that
come along from them in a
couple of years or so. Until
Warner Brothers is ready to
share more details publicly,
we aren't at liberty to say
anything more regarding what
they have let EPE know about
their plans so far."
When suggested that since it
seems unlikely to many Elvis
fans that Warner Brothers
would financially commit to
releasing DVD box sets of
the material shot for these
two Elvis concert films,
could it be possible for EPE,
possibly with Sony BMG, to
approach Warner for access
to their vaults, offering to
finance, produce and
distribute special
additional DVD releases of
the footage with a royalty
paid to Warner. And that it
has been proven with EPE and
Sony BMG's partnership on
the Aloha from Hawaii and
the '68 Comeback Special box
sets that a financial
success can be made with
such comprehensive releases.
Todd Morgan's response to
this was "We have suggested
to Warner Brothers on
several occasions the
possibility of their someday
licensing to EPE the Elvis,
That's the Way It Is and
Elvis on Tour footage for us
to produce special
additional DVD releases or
partnering with us on such
special releases as Andrew
Solt did with us on last
year's Elvis/Sullivan DVD
set. Nothing like that is
actually in the works with
Warner and EPE at this time,
but it remains open for
consideration in our ongoing
and very good relationship
with Warner Brothers. In
whatever scenario it might
happen, we just hope there
will be special additional
DVD releases of material
from the two Elvis MGM
concert films."
Source: Elvis
Australia
