There was a report on Wellesnet in August of last year, in connection with the Dax Foundation screening of Falstaff, that Beatrice Welles had lost the rights to Othello. I recently spoke with a representative of The Estate of Orson Welles who called to tell me that this information was in error and that Beatrice Welles does indeed still own the rights to Othello and will apparently be re-issuing the film on DVD and Blu-Ray sometime in the future.
Here is the statement regarding the rights to Othello the Welles Estate has asked me to post:
“Speculation that Beatrice Welles “apparently” sold Othello is incorrect. Othello is owned by the Estate of Orson Welles. It is not for sale, and never has been. The Estate retains all rights throughout the world, and intends to commercially re-release Othello in the foreseeable future.”
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Hopefully, a new DVD release of Othello might include all three variant versions of the film, such as has been done with great success for the critically hailed release of both Criterion’s Mr. Arkadin and Universal’s Touch of Evil. Since I have a vast wealth of original promotional material on Othello, I am hoping to work with the Welles Estate in providing some interesting extras for the planned re-release of Othello on DVD and Blu-Ray.