Deciphering the Mondo x SteelBook line

Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece written by myself and doesn’t necessarily reflect the entire views of hidefninja.com

Mondo logo

There’s most definitely a pattern behind the Mondo x SteelBook releases; one that I’m afraid goes unnoticed to those who live outside of Canada. I do live there, however, so I’m able to easily take note of which distributors/studios release certain Blu-rays. Observe: all of Mondo’s SteelBook releases thus far are of films that have been distributed by either Entertainment One (eOne) or Mongrel Media.

DRIVE – eOne
LOOPER – eOne
BOYHOOD – Mongrel
FIRST BLOOD – Mongrel
PAN’S LABYRINTH – eOne
DREDD 3D – eOne

This makes sense. Both of those companies are Canadian, so that’s why these SteelBooks have been Future Shop (soon to be Best Buy Canada) exclusives. It’s also why you won’t see these being sold in the U.S. or on Mondo’s online store (each film here has been distributed by different studios in the U.S.; DRIVE is Sony, BOYHOOD is Paramount, PAN’S is New Line, etc.).

So this leads me to believe that we shouldn’t expect to see films like ALIEN (Fox), JURASSIC PARK (Universal) or PREDATOR (Fox) as part of the Mondo x SteelBook line any time soon. Not until Mondo gets more studios onboard, anyway. What we will most likely see, as they’re distributed by eOne and Mongrel, are films like THE MIST, EVIL DEAD II, almost anything from Quentin Tarantino, SIN CITY, THE BABADOOK, and the list goes on and on.

All is not completely lost for Canada’s southern neighbors, though. Now that Best Buy has taken over for the now-defunct Future Shop, it’d only be logical for them to want to retail the same exclusive in both their U.S. and Canadian locations (that’s just my own personal theory).

Ex Machina

Would you like to see Jock’s EX MACHINA print become the first U.S. Mondo x SteelBook release?

Right now, on the HDN forum, you can vote to whether you’d like to see Mondo x SteelBook new releases in the United States. The American studios need convincing, though, so if you’d like to see new release SteelBooks from Mondo in the U.S., go here to vote! Also, there’s an excellent chance that EX MACHINA (featuring amazingly gorgeous art from Jock) could be the first film they release down south. To vote yes or no for that potential release, go here.

Now that you have a better understanding of how the films for the Mondo x SteelBook line have been chosen so far, what’s your thoughts? Chime in below!

About the author

NINJA | Ken loves comics, video games, and film -- especially creature features and giant monster flicks. When he's not stalking the shadows as part of the Ninja Clan, he spends his time obsessively collecting ThunderCats, King Kong, and Pacific Rim memorabilia.