Warner has announced in a mailing that they will be bringing the Steve McQueen classic Papillon to Blu-ray on May 24 at a suggested retail price of $34.99. The film will be released as one of Warner’s Blu-ray Book editions, which will feature a 34-page illustrated book with film credits, production stills, and an examination of the controversy surrounding the film. Other special features include the vintage featurette, The Magnificent Rebel.
Film synopsis:
They called him Papillon, meaning buttlerfly. If only he had wings to go with the name. Unable to fly, Henri Charriere virtually willed himself free. He persisted until he did the impossible: escape Devil’s Island. Based on Charriere’s bestseller and shot in Spain and Jamaica, Franlin J. Schaffner’s film of Papillon united two stars at key career junctures. After a decade of fine work in The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles and Bullitt, Steve McQueen found in Charriere another ideal tough-guy role. Coming off The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy and Little Big Man, Dustin Hoffman again distinguished himself as Dega, Charriere’s scruffy friend.
