Schlock-Wire: Go Car Crazy Corman-Style With Shout Factory’s EAT MY DUST/GRAND THEFT AUTO Two-Fer

Here’s some hot news for car-chase movie fans and Corman col­lec­tors: Shout Factory will be releas­ing a dou­ble bill of Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto in May.  Both of these films star a Happy Days–era Ron Howard and fea­ture plenty of vehic­u­lar chase & crash may­hem.  It’s worth not­ing that Grand Theft Auto was also Howard’s direct­ing debut, thus set­ting the stage for his suc­cess­ful move into that field.  Both films will be treated to new anamor­phic trans­fers and the set will fea­ture plen­ti­ful extras.  Read on for all the asphalt-scorching details…

SHOUT! FACTORY PRESENTS

THE RON HOWARD ACTION PACK:

EAT MY DUST!/GRAND THEFT AUTO

WITH NEW BONUS FEATURES!!!

IN STORES NATIONWIDE MAY 24, 2011 FROM SHOUT! FACTORY

“Grand Theft Auto is a non­stop orgy of comic destruc­tive­ness.” —Variety

Put the pedal to the metal and burn rub­ber with the clutch-popping excite­ment of this new spe­cial edi­tion of Eat My Dust! Young Hoover Niebold is dying to impress Darlene. She’s into going fast, he’s into Darlene — but when they both get into a red-hot race car, the reck­less fun accel­er­ates into a wild ride. They’re off on the open road for a tire-squealing, fender-bending adven­ture to who-knows-where — and all Smokey can do is EAT THEIR DUST! Starring Ron Howard, Christopher Norris (Airport 1975), Dave Madden (The Partridge Family) and Ron’s brother and father — Clint Howard and Rance Howard.

Cross Romeo & Juliet with a demo­li­tion derby and you have Grand Theft Auto, Ron Howard’s direc­to­r­ial debut. Can Sam and Paula — a young run­away cou­ple trav­el­ing in her father’s stolen Rolls-Royce — get hitched in Vegas before their par­ents, a jeal­ous boyfriend, a pri­vate detec­tive and a mob of bounty hunters catch them? The race is on! Starring Ron Howard, Nancy Morgan (The Nest), Marion Ross (Happy Days) and Ron’s brother and father — Clint Howard and Rance Howard.

About the films, Roger Corman says  “Eat My Dust! [was] one of my biggest mon­ey­mak­ers dur­ing the ’70s — due to a com­bi­na­tion of action and com­edy and a teenage lead­ing man, Ron Howard, who was a super­pop­u­lar star due to Happy Days.…  Plus lots and lots of car crashes! I had thought Ron would be too expen­sive for my bud­get, but was pleas­antly sur­prised when he agreed to star. Ron rea­soned he’d work once as an actor for me and then come back as a direc­tor. And he did! Ron made his direc­to­r­ial debut for me on Grand Theft Auto. After Eat My Dust! opened to really huge fig­ures, Ron said he’d do a sequel for exactly the same money, plus he’d do another job for free.…  He’d direct the film for noth­ing! Ron and his father Rance came up with a win­ning idea for Grand Theft Auto, a chase movie where Ron could be the legit­i­mate lead but not be in every scene, so he could con­cen­trate on his direct­ing. Ron has gone on to direct a series of crit­i­cally and finan­cially suc­cess­ful films, includ­ing the Oscar®-winning A Beautiful Mind. I’m proud to have been a vehi­cle to launch Ron Howard on his esteemed direc­to­r­ial career.”

Shout! Factory will con­tinue to present Roger Corman’s Cult Classics home enter­tain­ment releases in 2011. Upcoming high­lights include Action-Packed Collection, The Ron Howard Action Pack, The Women in Cages Collection, Battle Beyond the Stars,  Black Oak Conspiracy, Savage!, and many others.

Independent filmmaker-producer Roger Corman’s illus­tri­ous career ranks as one of Hollywood ’s most amaz­ing and leg­endary suc­cess sto­ries. Having pro­duced more than 350 films and directed 50 oth­ers, his influ­ence on American film goes far beyond his own ener­getic, cre­ative low-budget movies. He is arguably one of Hollywood ’s most gifted and mas­ter­ful film­mak­ers, and he chron­i­cled his incred­i­ble true-life story in the best-selling, award-winning auto­bi­og­ra­phy How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, writ­ten with Jim Jerome in 1998. In 2009 he was the recip­i­ent of an hon­orary Academy Award^® for his con­tri­bu­tion to the medium of film.

Noted for his keen abil­ity to spot young tal­ent, Corman’s most last­ing legacy will undoubt­edly be the legion of pro­duc­ers, direc­tors, writ­ers and actors he has fos­tered, among them: Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ron Howard, Peter Fonda, Jonathan Demme, Robert Towne, Gale Anne Hurd, Diane Ladd, Tommy Lee Jones, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Talia Shire, Charles Bronson, Joe Dante, Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Hopper, Bill Paxton, Monte Hellman, Carl Franklin and Sally Kirkland.

EAT MY DUST! Special Features:

• New Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer (1.78:1)
• New Interview With Star Ron Howard
• How To Crash On A Dime – The mak­ing of Eat My Dust!
• Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman
• The Illustrated Man – A Conversation With Corman Poster Artist John Solie
• Theatrical Trailer And TV Spot

GRAND THEFT AUTO Special Features:

• New Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer (1.78:1)
• Introduction By Roger Corman
• Audio Commentary With Ron Howard And Roger Corman
• Audio Commentary With Actor/Cowriter Rance Howard, Second Unit Director Allan Arkush, Editor Joe Dante And Key Grip Ben Haller
• A Family Affair – An Interview With Rance And Clint Howard
• Interview With Ron Howard And Roger Corman
• Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman
• Theatrical Trailer And TV Spots

The Ron Howard Action Pack var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};Eat My Dust: Put the pedal to the metal and burn rub­ber with the clutch-popping excite­ment of this new spe­cial edi­tion of Eat My Dust! Young Hoover Niebold is dying to impress Darlene. She’s into going fast, he’s into Darlene — but when they both get into a red-hot race car, the reck­less fun accel­er­ates into a wild ride. They’re off on the open road for a tire-squealing, fender-bending adven­ture to who-knows-where — and all Smokey can do is EAT THEIR DUST! Starring Ron Howard, Christopher Norris (Airport 1975), Dave Madden (The Partridge Family) and Ron’s brother and father — Clint Howard and Rance Howard.Grand Theft Auto: Cross Romeo & Juliet with a demo­li­tion derby and you have Grand Theft Auto, Ron Howard’s direc­to­r­ial debut. Can Sam and Paula — a young run­away cou­ple trav­el­ing in her father’s stolen Rolls-Royce — get hitched in Vegas before their par­ents, a jeal­ous boyfriend, a pri­vate detec­tive and a mob of bounty hunters catch them? The race is on! Starring Ron Howard, Nancy Morgan (The Nest), Marion Ross (Happy Days) and Ron’s brother and father — Clint Howard and Rance Howard.