Maverick director Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop) has revealed that The Criterion Collection is working on a Blu-ray release of his early western The Shooting (1966), starring Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Will Hutchins, and Brandon Carroll. A preliminary street date for this upcoming release has not yet been revealed.



Recently, director Hellman left the following comments on Facebook:



"Spent the day working on the color correction on the Criterion Blu-ray of THE SHOOTING. Working from a scan of the original negative. What a revelation! Saw it side by side with the IP. At least twice the information. It's not possible for any print to be as good as a blu ray made from a 4K transfer. A DCP would be even better.



I will tell you now, you've never seen this movie before. I've never seen this movie before. Warren in one scene has tears in his eyes which were never visible in any print, video cassette or DVD. I'm only sad that Greg Sandor isn't here to see it. It's the way it looked when he shot it."



Official synopsis: Willett Gashade is a former bounty hunter who decides to trade in his crime-fighting ways to tend to his family's mining business. He returns home to find his brother missing and ends up on an adventure through the Utah desert with a beautiful mystery woman and a ruthless gunfighter (Nicholson) who may or may not be responsible for his brother's disappearance and the murder of one of his old friends. The mystery builds to the film's enigmatic conclusion



