Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - (Page 8) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com ‘Dark Knight’ Ready to Turn Blu By Chris Tribbey NIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — The Dark Knight in theaters was a Hollywood game changer, approaching nearly $1 billion in receipts worldwide. So it’s fitting Warner Home Video is considering the film to be the biggest thing for Blu-ray Disc since, maybe, the PlayStation 3. “We think it’s probably a game changer for Blu-ray,” said Warner president Ron Sanders. “We believe it can be a driver for hardware adoption much the way The Matrix was for DVD.” A week before the street date, Warner took over a corner of Universal City, bringing out props and costumes from the film, and the director Christopher Nolan, for a Batman-themed party and Imax screening. “It’s very simple, easy to use, slick,” said Donnie Roache, executive director of DVD operations and creative services for Warner Home Video, as he showed off the first BD Live features from Warner Bros. “[The menu] will look the same on any title we use [BD Live].” Roache showed off how Dark Knight Blu-ray owners can get new trailers, streaming video and animated comics. Owners also will be able to record a commentary track, access picture-in-picture features, shop at Warner Bros.’ online store, make a database of their high-def collection and access a digital copy of the film. Nolan, while praising the detailed array of bonuses available on the two Blu-ray versions, said he knows some might be disappointed by what’s missing on the Blu-ray special features. BRIEFS I SONY, AMAZON HAVE HD SWEEPSTAKES Sony and Amazon.com have announced the Optimum High-Definition Experience Sweepstakes. Participants can enter at www.amazon.com/sonyhighdef to win Blu-ray Discs, PlayStation 3 prizes and Blu-ray players, among many other prizes. The contest runs Dec. 8 to Jan. 18, 2009. Winners will be announced by Feb. 1, 2009. – Billy Gil U I LG TO TRY 3-D HDTVS LG Electronics will start experimenting with 3-D HDTVs in 2009, the company told the United Kingdom’s T3 magazine. Choon Lee, VP and director at LG’s Digital TV Research Lab, said that more 3-D content and 3-D on Blu-ray Disc would encourage other HDTV manufacturers such as LG to consider 3-D in new HDTV models. – Chris Tribbey Donnie Roache of Warner Home Video gives a demonstration of BD Live features on Warner’s The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc Dec. 2 in Universal City, Calif. “I didn’t want a special feature focusing on Heath [Ledger’s] passing,” Nolan said of the deceased actor, who’s final acting performance as The Joker has earned calls for a posthumous Oscar nomination. “I wanted to do it the way we would have done it if Heath hadn’t passed.” I Dark Knight Online Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight already has reached the top of the list on iTunes’ Best of 2008 Top Movie Sellers before its Dec. 9 DVD release. According to Apple, pre-order sales have already passed films such as Wall-E and Iron Man. — Michael Lee The Dec. 2 screening was shown in an Imax theater, a nod to the many Imax components of The Dark Knight. “There were scenes in the film shot in the Imax format, the best and largest film format ever invented,” Nolan said. “It’s something we retain on the Blu-ray version of the film.” The Blu-ray video will be shown in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, except for Imax scenes, which will be shown in 1.78:1. Nolan said the crispness of the Bluray image does pose some problems for filmmakers who don’t want the movie magic exposed too much, but he said he couldn’t deny the excitement he and other filmmakers feel knowing their high-def productions will be seen at home in the best way possible. “What I like about movies with Bluray is it really does raise the game with what we do theatrically,” he said. Instead of a standard director’s commentary (which Nolan called “peculiar”), the Blu-ray features a picture-in-picture “Focus Points” option for watching the film with added details for certain scenes. On Dec. 18 the first 100,000 The Dark Knight Blu-ray owners who register through Warner’s BD Live network will get to join Nolan in a BD Live-enabled Q&A session while the movie rolls. ‘Venture Bros.’ Landing on BD By Laleh Ghalambor PRODUCT Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim will release season three of its animated series “The Venture Bros.” on home video March 24, 2009, (prebook Feb. 17, 2009). The release marks the first time an Adult Swim show has appeared on Blu-ray Disc. Arriving as a two-disc boxed set on DVD and Blu-ray at $29.98 and $44.98, respectively, the discs will include 13 uncensored episodes, deleted scenes and commentaries. The BDs will be packaged with a CD that includes 20 tracks from the series. Launched on Adult Swim in August 2004, The Venture Bros. is a spoof of 1960s action cartoon shows and follows the bizarre misadventures of the Venture family. EUROPE MAY NOT GET CHEAP BD PLAYERS, YET By Chris Tribbey Those cheap Blu-ray Disc players Americans are starting to enjoy may take longer to show up across the pond. Screen Digest research suggests entry-level player supply issues will keep prices high for Europeans this Christmas, keeping some consumers on the sidelines. Screen Digest suggests that the quick demise of HD DVD in February caused a problem for Blu-ray, as manufacturers couldn’t keep up with retailers’ sudden demand for more BD players. RESEARCH “A shortage of cheaper Blu-ray players means that the sub-$300 machines that are already appearing on U.S. shelves are unlikely to materialize in Europe this Christmas,” said Screen Digest analyst Richard Cooper. “Combined with the recession, this means the format is unlikely to move much beyond the early adopter market this year.” European adoption of Blu-ray will match the HDTV install base, with Screen Digest predicting 85% of Western European homes having at least one HDTV by 2012. TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended November 30, 2008 LABEL INDEX* TOP 20 HIGH-DEF B D M A R K E T S HA R E Percentage of Sales Per Title vs DVD Week ended November 30, 2008 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU-R AY D I S C C O M I NG U P STREETING The Dark Knight Warner Street Date: 12/9 Horton Hears a Who! Fox Street Date: 12/9 Jet Li’s Fearless Universal Street Date: 12/9 The Mask Warner Street Date: 12/9 PREBOOKING Babylon A.D. Fox Pre: 12/10, Street: 1/6/09 Bangkok Dangerous Lionsgate Pre: 12/10, Street: 1/6/09 Disaster Movie Lionsgate Pre: 12/10, Street: 1/6/09 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Hancock Transformers Wall-E Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the … Kung Fu Panda Iron Man Tropic Thunder 300 I Am Legend Wall-E: Three-Disc Special Edition Hellboy II: The Golden Army The Incredible Hulk Live Free or Die Hard Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition Fred Claus The Bank Job Batman Begins Superbad Rambo Cloverfield Sony Pictures 100.00 Para./DreamWorks 65.94 Disney 32.00 Paramount 28.23 Para./DreamWorks 26.04 Paramount 17.55 Para./DreamWorks 17.13 Warner 11.61 Warner 11.09 Disney 10.38 Universal 9.85 Universal 7.76 Fox 7.36 Disney 6.59 Warner 6.58 Lionsgate 6.51 Warner 6.43 Sony Pictures 6.38 Lionsgate 6.28 Paramount 6.22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Transformers Wall-E: Three-Disc Special Edition Rambo The Bank Job Cloverfield Live Free or Die Hard Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the … 300 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Batman Begins Iron Man Hancock I Am Legend Tropic Thunder Kung Fu Panda Wall-E Superbad The Incredible Hulk Fred Claus Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition Para./DreamWorks Disney Lionsgate Lionsgate Paramount Fox Paramount Warner Universal Warner Paramount Sony Pictures Warner Para./DreamWorks Para./DreamWorks Disney Sony Pictures Universal Warner Disney 47.20% 35.47% 34.23% 31.71% 29.48% 28.08% 24.94% 22.31% 16.59% 15.59% 14.92% 14.52% 11.16% 10.51% 9.59% 7.85% 6.73% 5.45% 4.38% 3.95% *Units sold compared to No. 1 title Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Home Media Magazine December 7–13, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/sonyhighdef
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 Contents News News High-Def News Electronic Delivery News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - December 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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