Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
The Punisher arrived in 2004 through Lionsgate, part of a wave of R-rated comic adaptations that studios were testing before the superhero genre tilted toward tentpole spectacle. Thomas Jane starred as Frank Castle in a production that leaned into pulp violence and revenge cinema rather than costume heroics, aligning itself more with 1970s vigilante pictures than the Marvel films that would soon dominate multiplexes. Lionsgate itself was still building its identity as a home for harder-edged genre fare, and this release stands as an early marker of that reputation.
This cell preserves a moment from the opening credits, specifically the Lionsgate logo, the studio marker that greets audiences before the story proper begins. Collectors of studio-branding frames value these pieces because they capture the corporate identity attached to a film's release print, a small but tangible artifact of how a picture physically presented itself in theaters. As the very first image a projected reel offers, it carries a threshold quality, the instant before narrative starts, tied directly to Lionsgate's branding of this particular release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Punisher (2004).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge; a DTS timecode line also appears present as a thin continuous stripe adjacent to the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture; no manufacturer text, safety designation, or key numbers can be read at this resolution.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cool-neutral tint; the dye image reads as predominantly dark with blue-toned logo elements, showing no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show the same Lionsgate Films title-card logo, consistent with a studio ident sequence at the head of a release print matching the film on record.
Era check
The combination of variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital data blocks, and apparent DTS timecode stripe is consistent with a mid-2000s theatrical release print, which aligns with a 2004 release date.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000064368
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
