Kino Lorber, a boutique home video label committed to bringing remastered and rare titles to market, announced this week that they have released Cowboys & Aliens, the indie comic book adaptation by Iron Man director Jon Favreau, on a 4K UHD disc. The movie, which stars Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, was based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Platinum Studios, who employed a starry creative team including Fred Van Lente and Denis Calero to actually draw it. The disc will come as part of a feature-rich combo pack, which will also include a standard Blu-ray.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Cowboys & Aliens was a fascinating case; with a promising premise and a creator who really wanted to make a movie, the project was sold to movie studios before it was even completed. In order to make it a more attractive proposition, Platinum underpriced the graphic novel and engaged in some other controversial sales practices in order to get the book on the bestseller list and make it look as attractive to Hollywood as possible.
Universal initially acquired the rights in 1997, and the graphic novel itself wasn’t…well…real at that point. It was basically a concept and some sketches. Once the movie fell into development hell, Rosenberg brought on the creative team to make the graphic novel a reality. It was 2006 by the time the graphic novel was made — nearly a decade after the initial pitch, and five years before the movie would come out.
Besides Ford and Craig, Cowboys & Aliens starred Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Noah Ringer, Paul Dano, Ana de la Reguera, and Clancy Brown. The film was produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and written by Star Trek writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci along with Rosenberg. Steven Spielberg and Favreau were the film’s executive producers.
The disc release from Kino Lorber features an all-new 4K remaster of the film’s theatrical cut, along with a director’s commentary by Favreau. Both an extended cut, and a raft of bonus features originally included on the first home release, are also included (although it appears they only appear on the Blu-ray). You can see a rundown of those here:
• HD Master of the Extended Cut (135 Minutes)
• Audio Commentary by Director Jon Favreau
• Conversations with Jon Favreau
– PLAY ALL (80:10)
– Daniel Craig (14:51)
– Harrison Ford (19:01)
– Olivia Wilde (10:49)
– Producers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (14:20)
– Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (6:45)
– Screenwriter Damon Lindelof (14:22)
• Igniting the Sky: The Making of Cowboys & Aliens
– PLAY ALL (40:18)
– Finding the Story (5:31)
– A Call to Action (8:51)
– Absolution (8:55)
– Outer-Space Icon (10:22)
– The Scope of the Spectacle (6:37)
• 3 Theatrical Trailers (2 Newly Mastered in 2K)
• 14 TV Spots
• 5.1 Surround & Lossless 2.0 Stereo Audio
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Optional English Subtitles
Cowboys & Aliens will arrive on 4K from Kino Lorber is now available to order here on Amazon.
