A week or so after the image first appeared, a short news item on DavisDVD.com mentioned that Warner Home Video had announced a release date for ABBA ‑ The Movie of August 16th (in the USA).
On June 3 Warner Bros. site listed the DVD for pre‑order for release on August 16:
Synopsis:
ABBA, the international music sensation of the ’70s, is captured on tour by
director Lasse Hallstrom in this lighthearted look at the lives of pop
stars. The mega‑hits performed include “Dancing Queen” and “S.O.S.”
Screen Aspect:
Original Aspect Ratio ‑ 2.40
Widescreen [16:9 Transfer]
Sound Quality:
English: Dolby Surround 5.1 ‑
Francais: Mono 1.0 ‑
Subtitles: English, Espanol, Francais
Media Quantity: 1
Packaging Type: Amaray Case
Elsewhere, DVD special features were listed:
* New Introduction and Commentary by Director Lasse
Hallström
* Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
* Theatrical Trailer
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish (Feature Film Only)
In the meantime, the DVD was listed for pre‑order on various US on‑line stores, including Amazon.com*, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Best Prices.com, Borders* (Amazon), CD Now* (Amazon), CD Universe, Deep Discount DVD*, DVD Empire*, DVD Planet, Epinions.com, Facets Multimedia, Laser’s Edge*, Movies Unlimited*, My Video Store, Send Me Movies.com*, TLA Video, VH1, Video Americain, VideoETA, Virgin Mega* (Amazon). Amazon.ca* and HMV Canada* (Amazon) listed it as an “Import”. [note: as of 10 July, the listing has been removed sites marked *, and will probably be removed from the rest in coming days]
Amazon.ca also listed ABBA: The Movie (Version française), with French language soundtrack.
Warner Bros. had the distribution rights for ABBA ‑ The Movie for much of the world when it was originally released in 1977/78. MGM/UA, whose back catalogue is now owned by Time Warner (Warner Bros. parent company), released ABBA - The Movie in several video formats in the UK during the 1980s. A Warner Bros. “WB” logo can be clearly seen on the spine of the original image.
But when these contracts were negotiated and deals were done, home video was a concept still years away. DVD had not been invented and obviously was not covered. And it’s almost a certainty that a film distribution deal made in 1977 was not intended to still be valid 28 years later. Generally, any contracts between Polar Music and its licensees were three to five years, or maybe up to ten.
This is the very same reason why it took so long for Universal Music to release any ABBA DVDs ‑ the rights had to be renegotiated with the ABBA members to cover the new format. More than likely that deal favoured the ABBA members.
But it seems that Warner Bros. USA believed they still have the rights to distribute ABBA ‑ The Movie, and thus chose to release it on DVD. Quite possibly in direct competition to Universal Music's stated plan to release their DVD sometime during the second half of 2005. Most likely the print to be used for this DVD would have been about the quality of the version screened over the past six months on TCM (another Time Warner company) and INHD (where is was shown yet again as recently as June) in the US.
In the June 2005 issue of the Official International Agnetha, Benny, Björn, Frida Fan Club Magazine, Jeffrey de Hart asked Mia Segelsson of Universal Music Sweden about this DVD of ABBA ‑ The Movie:
JdH: Are you aware of another company planning to release it in the USA?
MS: I saw pictures of it and I think it said Warner Brothers? That has nothing to do with ours. I don’t know where it came from. We’re trying to figure out who that is that is going to release it.
Around 8 July, the listing for ABBA ‑ The Movie disappeared from the Warner Bros. site, and in following days also disappeared from many of the on‑line store sites. Best Prices.com's page said “Unfortunately this product is no longer available and has been discontinued”.
On 11 July, Amazon.com sent an e-mail to all who had pre‑ordered the DVD “Though we had expected to be able to send this item to you, we’ve since found that it will not be released after all. Please accept our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience we have caused you. We have cancelled this item from your order.” On 13 July, Barnes & Noble advised customers that their orders had been cancelled - their website now states "This title is not available for ordering." DVD Planet describes it as "Discontinued". My Video Store and VideoETA have removed the release date, and added links for reminders when the DVD becomes available.
It would seem that finally Universal Music has proved to Warner Bros. that they do not have the rights to release ABBA – The Movie in this format.
Bringing the story full circle, DavisDVD.com has reported that indeed the Warner Bros. DVD has been cancelled (citing ABBA World as a reference).
Updated 26 July 2005
