FOX And MGM Unveil Blu-ray Exclusive Worldwide Releases For 2007

[AVRevForum.com]

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment today unveiled an aggressive global Blu-ray Disc release strategy including 29 new release and "must-have" catalog titles that runs through the end of the 2007 calendar year. Among the many highlights of the impressive worldwide slate are six day & date BD/DVD new theatrical releases from Fox including the $241 million box-office family favorite FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and the $335 million box-office action powerhouse LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, four day & date BD/DVD (U.S. only) new theatrical releases from MGM, 19 must-have on BD‚ films from the two studios‚ libraries, Fox's first-ever TV release on BD "PRISON BREAK" -- and Fox's intention to release at least one state-of-the-art title per month featuring numerous BD firsts.

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 percent market-share per week of all high definition titles sold this year and, in the U.S., it is out-performing HD DVD by a margin of 115 percent.

"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."

"And as Blu-ray continues to grows stronger, it has become survival of the fittest which is most apparent in the retail landscape where our eager and growing global Blu-ray consumer base has caused a shift that is forcing the allocation of more space to the format that is selling the best. And, in many recent instances of note, top retailers in North America are choosing to promote the Blu-ray format exclusively in their stores," continued Dunn.

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 and X-MEN THE LAST STAND rank in the 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 select 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 Blu-ray Disc releases from Fox and MGM excluding new theatrical day & date BD/DVD releases.

MASTER & COMMANDER OCT. 2
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW OCT. 2
FROM HELL OCT. 9
THE FLY (1986) OCT. 9
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS OCT. 9
28 DAYS LATER OCT. 9
ROBOCOP (MGM) OCT. 9
AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) (MGM) OCT. 9
BATTLE OF BRITAIN (MGM) NOV. 6
A BRIDGE TOO FAR (MGM) NOV. 6
I, ROBOT NOV. 13
DIE HARD NOV
DIE HARD 2 DIE HARDER NOV
DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE NOV
RED DAWN (MGM) NOV
MR. AND MRS. SMITH DEC. 4
INDEPENDENCE DAY DEC. 4
CAST AWAY DEC. 4
RONIN (MGM) DEC. 4

[TheMoose]

There's a few there I'll pick up!
Master & Commander was a showcase on my HT on DVD, I can't wait to see & hear it in HD!

[kennyt]

While I will certasinly be buying some of these, many are lame films. Amityville Horror?? Come one guys.... I'll get Edward Scissorhands, and likely Silver Surfer, but the studios need to release good software to really make this format work.

At least Badder Santa came out on Blu-ray, so we are on our way!

[JerryDelColliano]

It would be good to see new movies that show off the potential of the format more than old flicks.

I guess more is better but newer also seems to be better.

I will likely buy the Die Hard movies.

j