King of the Gypsies

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This special limited edition J-card MediaBook slipcase (designed by Sean Phillips) is limited to 4,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.

Note: this release is available to be purchased on its own, or in the following bundles:

• Limited Edition Slipcase + the hardcover book Runaway Train: or, The Story of My Life So Far by Eric Roberts with Sam Kashner (book details can be seen below). Limited to 100 units.
• Limited Edition Slipcase + This Is Cinématographe: A Journal of American Cinema - Summer 2025. Limited to 300 units.

Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome's Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.

An arranged marriage between gypsy clans goes awry when Spiro (Michael V. Gazzo, The Godfather Part II) refuses to sell his daughter to the self-proclaimed King of the Gypsies, King Zharko Stephanowicz (Sterling Hayden, The Long Goodbye), ending in a hail of bullets and a kidnapped daughter. In the following decade, Rose (Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise), kidnapped daughter, and her husband Groffo (Judd Hirsch, Ordinary People) have a young adult son named Dave (Eric Robers, Star 80) who has rejected the gypsy ways of his family, despite his grandfather, King Zharko, passing his leadership onto the unwilling scion. Dave’s refusal sparks a turbulent war within his own family and the larger gypsy community in 1960s New York City.

Written for the screen and directed by Academy Award Winning screenwriter Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon), King of the Gypsies is adapted from the novel of the same name, written by Peter Maas (biographer of Frank Serpico and author of The Valachi Papers). Featuring stunning, on location, photography by noted Swedish cinematographer and Ingmar Bergman collaborator Sven Nykvist (Persona, The Tenant) as well as in incredible ensemble cast, including the screen debut of Eric Roberts, King of the Gypsies is a long overlooked entry in the cinema of New York City in the 1970s. Cinématographe is proud to present the world 4K UHD debut of Frank Pierson’s somber urban drama in a new restoration from its original camera negative.

directed by: Frank Pierson
starring: Eric Roberts, Sterling Hayden, Shelley Winters, Susan Sarandon, Judd Hirsch, Brooke Shields, Annie Potts, Linda Manz
1978 / 112 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 1.0

Additional info:

• 2-Disc Set: 4K Ultra HD + Region A Blu-ray
• New audio commentary with film historian Adrian Martin
• Keep Surprising Me — a new video interview with actor Eric Roberts
• Prison of Roots: Sven Nykvist Arrives in America — a new video essay by film historian Daniel Kremer
• The Writer Speaks: Frank Pierson — a two hour long archival interview with writer/director Frank Pierson, recorded by the Writers Guild Foundation in 2001
• Archival interview with editor Paul Hirsch
• Trailers from Hell — Michael Schlesinger on King of the Gypsies
• New text essays by film critic Jason Bailey, author of Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies That Made It; film critic Caden Mark Gardner; film critic and lecturer Adam Nayman; and filmmaker and writer Chris Shields
• English SDH subtitles

Runaway Train: or, The Story of My Life So Far

Written by Eric Roberts with Sam Kashner

In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia.

Eric Roberts grew up in Georgia, spending most of his teens away from his mother and sisters, Lisa and Julia. Instead, he stayed with his controlling father, a grifter jealous of his early success. At age 17, Eric moved to New York to pursue acting, where he worked and partied with future legends like Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, and Robin Williams.

His big break came when he was cast in King of the Gypsies. Eric became one of the hottest stars of the era, starting an affair with actress Sandy Dennis, working with Bob Fosse on the critically acclaimed Star 80, and earning an Oscar nomination for Runaway Train. But for Eric, Hollywood came with a dark side—an ocean of cocaine that nearly swept him away, culminating in a car accident that almost cost him his life.

Eric is open about the seriousness of his addictions and their devastating effect on his career. He reveals the reasons behind his complicated relationship with his sister, Julia, and his daughter, Emma, a successful actress in her own right. Now, happily married to actress and casting director Eliza Roberts, who helped him confront his demons, he is revered among his peers as the ultimate actor’s actor.

Written with New York Times bestselling author, for years a Vanity Fair contributing editor, and current Air Mail writer-at-large Sam Kashner, this is a powerful memoir of a Hollywood legend.

286 pages
8.5" x 6"