Being privileged to be part of the Hi-Def Ninja staff, as well as one of their Blu-ray reviewers and forum moderators, I’ve seen the surge in popularity that Steelbooks have gained over the past 12 months, not just in the UK but worldwide. Due to various retailers shutting up their online business, it’s allowed Zavvi to take the opportunity and produce some fantastic Steelbooks for collectors to purchase.
Now that 2013 is almost over, Hi-Def Ninja are looking forward to seeing which Steelbooks will be released next year; hopefully the following list will match some of your expectations! It’s also never too early to start speculating!
* Thor: Dark World Phase One was completed this year with the release of The Avengers, and Phase Two started this year thanks to Iron Man 3. We’ve seen some fantastic pictures of some members on our forums showcasing their Phase One Steelbook collections, and we are all excited to add to our Phase Two collection with the follow up to Thor.
* Captain America: The Winter Solider As above really, another addition to the Phase Two collection, which we think will be released onto Blu-ray before Christmas 2014 and will no doubt get a very nice Steelbook release.
* Robocop (remake) A lot of movie fans are against this remake (myself included), but it’s bound to do well at the box office introducing a younger generation to Robocop (hey, at least we’ve got the new 4K remastered version of the original coming out next year to look forward to!) and I would say a Robocop Steelbook is inevitable.
* 300: Rise of an Empire The sequel to the hugely popular Zack Snyder film, 300, finally hits cinemas next year. 300 had a slew of Steelbook releases worldwide, so it seems only fitting that the sequel will get one too.
* Muppets Most Wanted Strangely enough the Muppets movie released in 2012 never received a Steelbook release anywhere in the world (aside from a retailer exclusive Viva Metal Case in Canada), but with the proven popularity of the Disney Steelbooks, this would make a worthy release in Steelbook form.
* Escape Plan The Arnold Schwarzenegger/Sylvester Stallone vehicle ended up making a lot of money in the worldwide box office (over $100 million!) and I for one would love to see a Steelbook release of this fun movie as I’m sure others would.
* The Amazing Spider-Man 2 The rebooted Spider-Man, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, received a few Steelbook releases over the world and ended up turning out very nice. The sequel which is set to be bigger and better is no doubt worthy of a Steelbook release next year.
* X-Men: Days of Future Past One that did get a UK Steelbook release was the first movie, ‘X-Men: First Class’ and it was a great one at that. The film is shaping up to be superb and a Steelbook for the release of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ would be a great addition to anyone’s X-Men Steelbook collection.
* Transformers 4: Age of Extinction The wildly popular ‘Transformers’ movies get its fourth film in the franchise released next year, again directed by Michael Bay. The first three movies have been released as Steelbooks all over the world, including the UK, so the fourth film is a must to own to add to your ‘Transformers’ Steelbook collection.
* Maleficent The Disney Steelbooks have been huge releases worldwide, especially within the UK. Disney’s next live action film starring Angelina Jolie is looking to be a good one, and this is one that will no doubt get a Steelbook release all over the world.
There are bound to be many more Steelbook releases throughout 2014 including many back catalogue releases. Judging by the many polls that we have on the forums, these are some of the most wanted catalogue releases our members (17,000 and growing) would like to see be released next year –
* American Psycho * Schindler’s List * The Abyss * The Mask * True Lies * Bad Boys 2 * The Usual Suspects * Beetlejuice * The Good, The Bad and The Ugly * The Running Man
There are so many possibilities that we would love to see, and it’s clear based on the feedback we have received on the forums.
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Thanks,
Matt Coomber, aka Cooey from Hi-Def Ninja!
