Given The Criterion Collection‘s longstanding relationship with both IFC Films and director Richard Linklater (they’ve issued "Slacker" and "Dazed & Confused"), it seemed like a no-brainer that the filmmaker’s widely praised "Boyhood" would get the custom treatment. But alas, it’s not be (sorry DVD and Blu-ray fetishists who require a wacky C logo on their boxes).
Variety reports that Paramount has landed the U.S. home video and Internet/digital home entertainment rights to the movie, with IFC handling VOD. The news is a bit surprising given that earlier this summer, Linklater himself confirmed "Boyhood" would be on the boutique label. “Yeah, we’ve got a ton of behind the scenes stuff. We made this in the era where everyone has a digital camera so we unearthed an interview from year one with Ellar, Lorelei, Patricia and myself; Patricia interviewed me in 2002. I hadn’t seen this since we shot it, Ellar had forgotten quite a bit of it but he got to see himself as a wide-eyed six year old. For people who like the movie, I think there will be a lot of cool little treasures,” he said about the extras.
Now, as folks will point out, Paramount and Criterion did tag team on the home video release of David Fincher‘s "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," with the former issuing a barebones disc, and the latter a more deluxe edition. Maybe that’ll happen here, but in the trade report, there is no mention at all about Criterion. The home video market has changed drastically since 2008, and splitting a niche release, for an already very small piece of the pie, may not be worth it. Paramount may want the whole thing to themselves.
And in defense of the decision, in the hands of Paramount, "Boyhood" will get in front of more eyes, at a lower cost, than a Criterion release would, with their releases usually boasting a higher price tag and lacking the marketing muscle of a major studio.
No release date yet, but let us know what you think below.