It’s been three years since “Barbarian” hit theaters and officially launched Zach Cregger’s filmmaking career. Yet, to the dismay of physical media collectors and horror fans alike, the film still hasn’t received a physical media release.
In a recent interview, Cregger tackled the topic and admitted he’d been relentlessly pushing 20th Century Studios for a physical release but had, so far, hit a brick wall.
I have banged the drum, made phone calls, and tried my best to get some sort of physical media. I'm not making headway, and it kind of bums me out
Now there’s an update—and it’s a positive one coming down the pipeline—as “Barbarian” producer Roy Lee casually mentioned on a podcast that “they told us they were doing Criterion” when asked about a potential physical media release of the film.
Criterion coming in to save the day isn’t much of a surprise. I speculated that this might happen a few months ago, and the label most recently rescued Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” from physical media oblivion. They’ve been doing this consistently, for many acclaimed streaming titles, especially from Netflix.
There has been a disappointing trend when it comes to Disney and its push to make physical media obsolete. As you know, a few years ago the studio purchased Fox, acquiring its distribution arm as well. This means they also own 20th Century Fox, which they’ve since renamed simply as 20th Century. Disney has been steadily phasing out physical media for several years now, and “Barbarian” arguably became one of their more pronounced omissions.
“Barbarian” was a relative success in 2022, earning $45M on a skimpy $4M budget, and its growing cult following—combined with the recent box-office triumph of Cregger’s follow-up, “Weapons”—has driven fan petitions calling for the physical media release it deserves.
Turns out Criterion may have come in to save the day, once again.