Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Michael J. Fox, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, and Natalie Portman—and that’s not even everyone. It’s almost unfathomable that director Tim Burton was able to assemble that cast 30 years ago for his absurdist, weird, sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! But it happened, and now, it’s time to attack-ack-ack all over again.
Mars Attacks! is about to get both a 4K Ultra HD digital release and a 4K UHD Blu-ray release, both on August 11. It’ll also include a few new featurettes celebrating the 30th anniversary. Here’s a teaser trailer.
Calling all earthlings, MARS ATTACKS! is coming to 4K on 8/11👽 pic.twitter.com/eVUfT0FhBK
— Warner Bros. (@warnerbros) June 23, 2026
And here are a few looks at the box art and limited edition steelbook
As for those new features, here are their descriptions from the press release.
- Looking Back on Mars Attacks!: Filmmakers swap stories about working with Tim Burton on one of the 1990s’ wackiest alien-invasion films.
- Ack! Ack! Aesthetic: Filmmakers explore the distinctive style of Mars Attacks! and reveal how then-cutting-edge CGI shaped its iconic look.
Finally, IGN had a brief clip giving us a sense of what to expect from those features.
That’s a great clip that makes me want to watch the rest of the features asap, especially since Warner Bros. obviously conducted new interviews with some of the people involved. If anything, we’re a little bummed that there are just two featurettes and potentially no interview with Burton. But there are plenty of milestones to come in the future.
I was a teenager when Mars Attacks! came out in 1996 and didn’t quite get it. It was a little too weird and a little too campy for me at the time. But in the years since, I’ve come to respect and admire not just how weird and campy it is, but that it’s that weird and campy, and Warner Bros. still positioned it as one of its big holiday releases that year. It speaks immensely to the power of Tim Burton in this period of time.
Are you a Mars Attacks! fan? Will you be picking up this new edition?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
