Upcoming Spy DVDs: Le Carré Classics Reissued - UPDATED

Eagle-eyed spy spotters may have noticed lately that the masterful 1979 miniseries version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, has gone out of print in the United States. That's because Acorn plans to re-release the DVD this fall to coincide with Tomas Alfredson's new movie version starring Gary Oldman as Smiley. They'll also reissue the follow-up miniseries, Smiley's People (1982), at the same time. There are no further details available yet, so I'm not sure if this re-release will be the complete, uncut, 7-episode UK version of Tinker, Tailor[No], or the shorter 6-part US version that was available on Acorn's last Region 1 DVD set [Yes]. I'm also not sure if these two miniseries will be issued separately or together. But I'll post more details as soon as I get them! (Who knows? Maybe they'll even do them on Blu-ray... [No such luck.])

UPDATE: Acorn has confirmed that these are separate releases and the same editions that were available before with the same cuts (US versions, each 6 episodes and approximately 324 minutes), the same special features and even the same cover art, but "repriced and re-released in more compact packaging." Retail is $49.99 each, but you should be able to find them much cheaper than that on Amazon and other online retailers this fall. These two repackaged series hit shelves on October 25.