Classics get a 4K lifeline as Studiocanal launches $29 million drive with ‘Terminator 2,’ ‘Manhunter’

First up in the push: a fresh theatrical run for Terminator 2: Judgment Day timed to the film ’s 35th anniversary. Studiocanal says the restored version hits theaters on August 27 with multiple formats on offer — 2D, 3D , 4DX and D-BOX — and a new cut of Michael Mann’s Manhunter is also on the calendar. Mann personally oversaw the restoration for Manhunter: The Final Cut, which opens in UK theaters on September 25 for the thriller ’s 40th.

What’s on deck

• Terminator 2: Judgment Day — returns to theaters August 27 in 2D/3D/4DX/D-BOX.
• Manhunter: The Final Cut — director- supervised restoration, UK theaters September 25.
• Pan’s Labyrinth — new 4K restoration arriving this fall for its 20th anniversary.
• To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch) — brand-new 4K restoration debuting at the Venice Film Festival.
• Jacques Tati retrospective — several of the French filmmaker’s titles heading back to cinemas.

It ’s all rolling out under a new global catalog banner, Studiocanal Classics. The company says it controls a library of more than 18,000 titles spanning a century of film history and has been quietly funding a large-scale upgrade to modern standards.

Nearly 1,000 vintage features have already been restored to 4K, backed by roughly $29 million in funding.

Beyond theatrical reissues, Studiocanal has been finding new homes for some of these films in pop culture — including tie-ins that brought Terminator 2 into Activision’s Call of Duty and Epic Games’ Fortnite — while classic restorations regularly surface at events like Cannes Classics and Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato.

U.S. rollout

Studiocanal announced the restorations and the new Classics label globally, but U.S. release plans haven’t been announced for these titles yet. The company says additional restorations and dates will be revealed later.