First Look Studios have announced that Werner Herzog’s BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS will be coming out on DVD/Blu-ray on February 23, 2010. A home video date announcement is usually no big deal, but when that film hasn’t even shown theatrically yet? That’s something different. As the kids over at The Playlist sagely point out, when does a studio ever announce a home video release a month before a film’s actual theatrical release (the film has a November 20 release date attached to it)? With the film available for DVD purchase three months after it hits theaters, the possibility of a wide release seems flimsy and improbable – why spend all that money and time on marketing it for the theater? If the film makes it past the typical limited release in New York City and Los Angeles, I’d be surprised.

But what does that say about the quality of the film? Its trailer has garnered a lot of attention for being totally bonkers. It’s got a cast chock-full of unbelievable talent – Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Shannon. It’s got a director with big-name recognition (even if people just know “he’s that one director dude who got shot during that interview and just kept going, man”). And, as someone who has been lucky enough to catch the film already, while I can’t give my entire review away just yet, I can tell you that it was one of the most fun movie-going experiences I’ve had all year and I will never look at Cage the same way again.

If this new school BAD LIEUTENANT doesn’t make it beyond a limited release, a lot of film buffs will be denied a big screen experience like any other, and I’ll have significantly less people to discuss the film with. This does not please.