You want 'em in hi-def, you gotta have 'em on BD then.
14 UK Titles To Debut Packed With Soon-to-Be-AnnouncedBD Industry ‘Firsts’
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER And DIE HARD 4.0 To Debut Day-and-Date on BD/DVD
-- Blu-ray Out-Performing HD DVD 2-to-1 At Retail in 2007 --
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) has unveiled an aggressive global
Blu-ray Disc release strategy including 14 new release and “must-have”
catalogue titles before the end of the 2007 calendar year in the UK. Among the
many highlights of the impressive slate are two day & date BD/DVD new
theatrical releases from Fox including the $241 million worldwide box-office
family favourite FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and the $335 million
worldwide box-office action powerhouse DIE HARD 4.0, plus 12 more ‘must-have on
BD’ films from the TCFHE library.
The only high-definition packaged media universally supported by the film,
music, gaming and computer industries, BD is the #1 selling high-definition
packaged media. In fact, on a worldwide basis, BD is averaging nearly 70%
market-share per week of all high definition titles sold this year.
“Given that Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD DVD all year, and this is the
case for any titles released by any studio in both formats, we believe that the
time is right for us to accelerate our activities and help convert the nearly
60 million high definition households worldwide into Blu-ray households,” noted
Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “By
the end of this calendar year there will be expansive availability of
technically vibrant releases featuring never-before-seen, advanced BD-J
interactivity as well as a broad offering of playback devices at attractive
prices that will prove to any doubting consumers once and for all that Blu-ray
is the only way.”
Among the BD industry ‘firsts’ from the Studios’ upcoming global release slate
are picture in picture capability, enhanced viewing and surround sound modes
with the ability to mix and match picture and sound, direct access to in-movie
features through one of the four colored buttons on the BD remote and the most
technically vibrant BD-Java interactive multi-player challenge and trivia games
to date. The Studios’ slate also takes full advantage of BD-Live functionality
this fourth quarter. Internet-connected consumers will enjoy unique, title
specific “web-enabled” interactive features and games and “web-exclusive”
downloadable content with the ability to connect and interact with other
broadband BD users worldwide.
Cementing its leadership position within the industry - previous BD releases
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, X-MEN THE LAST STAND, ROCKY BALBOA and ERAGON rank in the
UK Top 20 best-sellers - the vast majority of the Studios’ upcoming global
slate will be presented on 50 GB dual-layer discs with advanced BD-J
interactivity and feature numerous Blu-ray exclusive high-definition bonus
materials that further realizes BD’s incredible potential. Consumers will enjoy
the superior video and audio elements of AVC encoding and Lossless HD audio on
many of the coming titles as well as enhanced and integrated menus, personal
scene selections, search indexing, trivia and other title specific games and
high-definition bonus materials.
Upcoming BD-J features exclusive to priority catalogue titles from Fox and MGM
include an "Alien Scavenger Hunt" (INDEPENDENCE DAY) that challenges
players to earn points by identifying the correct number of aliens in selected
scenes to unlock additional bonus features; a “Global Warming Trivia Track”
(THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW) where users must correctly answer questions about
global warming to keep the Earth’s temperature from rising and being destroyed;
and a historical and geographical pop-up map (MASTER & COMMANDER) that
tracks the location of Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey and his enemies.
Listed below are the upcoming 2007 Blu-ray Disc releases from Fox excluding new
theatrical day & date BD/DVD releases.
EXACT TITLE CONFIGURATIONS TO FOLLOW IN THE COMING WEEKS.
THE MARINE: OCT 29
28 WEEKS LATER: OCT 29
SUNSHINE: OCT 29
DIE HARD: NOV 12
DIE HARD 2 DIE HARDER: NOV 12
THE HILLS HAVE EYES: NOV 19
FROM HELL: NOV 19
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE: DEC 10
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS: DEC 24
PATHFINDER: DEC 24
MASTER & COMMANDER: DEC 31
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: DEC 31
MR. AND MRS. SMITH: DEC 31
INDEPENDENCE DAY: DEC 31
Blu-ray Disc is a next generation optical disc format developed for
high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer
Blu-ray Disc holds up to 25 gigabytes of data and a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc
holds up to 50 gigabytes of data. This greater storage capacity enables the
Blu-ray Disc to store over six times the amount of content than is possible
with current DVDs, and is particularly well-suited for high definition feature
films with extended levels of additional bonus and interactive material.
Blu-ray also features the most advanced copy protection, player backward
compatibility with the current DVD format, connectivity and advanced
interactivity.
Fox takes advantage of the next generation format’s high definition technology
and advanced functionality to present its titles with the highest quality
audiovisual elements. Showcasing picture quality with six times the resolution
of DVD and theater quality “uncompressed” audio for the purest digital sound,
the cutting-edge discs also feature enhanced and integrated menus, games,
high-definition bonus materials and Java-encoding for more dynamic and
sophisticated interactivity.
The Studio’s commitment to emerging technologies is dedicated to enhancing the
consumer experience of its products and providing for backward compatibility
with their existing home entertainment libraries while also aggressively
protecting its intellectual property from piracy. The Blu-ray companies fully
embrace the Studio’s steadfast commitment to the fight against piracy and the
preservation of the integrity of its properties. Twentieth Century Fox is a
member of the Board of Directors of the Blu- ray Disc Association.
A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all
Fox film and television programming on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) as well
as acquisitions and original productions. The company also releases all
products around the globe for MGM Home Entertainment. Twentieth Century Fox
Home Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film
Corporation, a News Corporation company.
