Home Media Magazine - February 23-March 1, 2009 - (Page 8) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com Paramount Beams Up Blu-ray Blitz for ‘Star Trek’ By John Latchem aramount Home Entertainment is piggybacking on the May 8 theatrical release of the new Star Trek movie by bowing the original films and TV show on Blu-ray Disc for the first time. Due April 28 (prebook March 17) from CBS Home Entertainment is Star Trek: The Original Series — Season One at $118. The seven-disc set includes all 29 episodes from the 1966-67 season of the seminal sci-fi series, with the option for viewers to toggle between the original broadcast versions and the remastered versions that include enhanced visual effects. Extras ‘Kramer Vs. Kramer’ Will Have BD Live Interviews By Chris Tribbey or the Blu-ray Disc release of Kramer vs. Kramer, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment got creative. The day the Blu-ray hit stores, the studio hosted a screening of the film at the Fine Arts Theatre. After the screening, writer-director Robert Benton and actor Justin Henry held a question-and-answer session with fans of the film in the audience. Sony will add those interviews in a five- or six-part series to its BD Live network in early March. “I’m very anxious to see this, to see what it’s going to look like with this kind of quality,” Benton said of the Blu-ray picture. He added that he got his first Blu-ray player for Christmas. “The resolution and quality is terrific,” he said. “It’s a resolution better than film. I never thought any- P include the original previews for each episode, behind-the-scenes featurettes and retrospectives, and a mail-in offer for a Sulu action figure. Due May 12 (prebook March 31) are two boxed sets of the films based on the original series, the Star Trek Original Motion Picture Collection at $104.99 and the Star Trek Motion Picture Trilogy at $48.99. The Original Motion Picture Collection includes the six films starring the cast of the original TV series: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). The set includes the bonus disc “Star Trek: The Captains’ Summit,” a roundtable discussion hosted by Whoopi Goldberg with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes. The Blu-rays of the films are the original theatrical cuts and do not include Robert Wise’s director’s edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture released on DVD in 2001, according to a studio spokesperson. The trilogy set, which also will be released on DVD at $29.99, includes The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home. Fans have long considered the films an unofficial trilogy. A featurette on Star Trek IV explores this notion. The films have been remastered in high-def with new 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The BD versions of the films also include new extras and BD Live functions such as “Star Trek I.Q.” thing could be better than film.” It’s been 30 years since Kramer vs. Kramer — about a newly divorced father (Dustin Hoffman) in a custody battle with his ex-wife (Meryl Streep). — wowed the nation and won five Academy Awards, including best picture. Henry was only 7 years old when a casting director plucked him out of school for the part of Billy Kramer. “I’m amazed at how well it’s held up,” he said. Benton, who shared stories about how he got Hoffman to take the role, and how awful the first version of the script was received, said he was surprised by the film’s critical success. “I don’t think you could make it today,” he said. “When this film was made, studios were still owned and run by entrepreneurs. It was the movie we all wanted to make … about our own frailties as parents.” FRY’S ELECTRONICS STILL SELLING HD DVD By Erik Gruenwedel ‘MONSTERS, INC.,’ ‘A BUG’S LIFE’ DUE ON BD By Chris Tribbey BRIEFS I ‘STRANGELOVE’ ON BD Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 satire Dr. Strangelove to Blu-ray Disc June 16 (prebook May 14) at $38.96. It includes a booklet, behindthe-scenes documentaries, a Peter Sellers retrospective, interviews with Sellers and George C. Scott., a Cold War trivia track and picture-in-picture commentary with Cold – John Latchem War experts. wo Pixar features — 1998’s A Bug’s Life and 2001’s Monsters, Inc. — will hit Blu-ray Disc May 19 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Each two-disc Blu-ray will feature a DisneyFile digital copy and new extras. For A Bug’s Life, director John Lasseter offers an introduction and sits in a roundtable with co-director Andrew Stanton and producers Kevin Reher and Darla Anderson. T Also included is an animation of the storyboards, and three Disney BD Live features: movie chat, mail and messages. Monsters, Inc. features a roundtable with director Pete Docter, co-director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla Anderson and actor Bob Peterson as well as an interactive game. Also included are BD Live movie chat, mail and messages, and a sneak peek of the new attraction at Disneyland Tokyo. Original DVD bonus features are included. H D DVD has been officially declared dead for more than a year. But that hasn’t stopped Fry’s Electronics from offering the former Blu-ray Disc rival to video game aficionados — at bargain prices. The chain is offering the HD DVD player attachment for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and five movies (King Kong, Batman Begins, 300, Troy and Blood Diamond) for $54.99 online at Frys.com and select stores, according to a newspaper circular. The same player bundled with Kong, Heroes: Season One and Battlestar Galactica: Season One can be had for $49.99 (and $39.99 with just Kong). Select HD DVD titles are available in stores (right next to Blu-ray) for as little $4.99. “We do have quite a bit of HD DVD movies,” said a Fry’s employee at the Fountain Valley, Calif. store. “We did get a lot of them in before the end of the format war.” The staffer said that for the price, the deal was a good one for Xbox 360 owners, though he said Blu-ray is the default standard for high-definition packaged media going forward. TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended February 15, 2009 LABEL INDEX* TOP 20 HIGH-DEF B D TI TL E S HA R E Percentage of Sales Per Title vs DVD* Week ended February 15, 2009 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU- R AY D I S C CO M I NG U P STREETING The French Connection Fox Street Date: 2/24 Sex Drive Summit Street Date: 2/24 Vanishing Point Fox Street Date: 2/24 What Just Happened? Magnolia Street Date: 2/24 PREBOOKING Yes Man Warner Pre: 2/24, Street: 4/07 Quantum of Solace Fox/MGM Pre: 2/25, Street: 3/24 Seven Pounds Sony Pre: 2/26, Street: 3/31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa The Dark Knight Miracle at St. Anna Nights in Rodanthe The Boondock Saints W. Planet Earth: The Complete Series Zack and Miri Make a Porno Iron Man Transformers Pineapple Express Amadeus Eagle Eye Max Payne 300 Top Gun The Bourne Trilogy Donnie Darko Wanted Step Brothers *Units sold compared to No. 1 title Paramount/DW 100.00 Warner 40.01 Disney/Touchstone 30.24 Warner 26.62 Fox 25.02 Lionsgate 18.71 BBC Video 18.49 Genius/Weinstein 17.05 Paramount 16.86 Paramount/DW 15.42 Sony Pictures 15.02 Warner 14.89 Paramount/DW 14.41 Fox 13.40 Warner 12.48 Paramount 12.32 Universal 12.17 Fox 11.78 Universal 11.24 Sony Pictures 10.74 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Iron Man 300 Eagle Eye The Dark Knight Miracle at St. Anna Wanted Pride and Glory Max Payne Vicky Cristina Barcelona I Am Legend Hulk vs. Step Brothers Pineapple Express Juno Casino Royale Wall-E Hancock Kung Fu Panda Zack and Miri Make a Porno W. *Concurrent DVD & Blu-ray releases only Paramount Warner Paramount/DW Warner Disney/Touchstone Universal Warner Fox Genius/Weinstein Warner Lionsgate Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Fox Sony Pictures Disney Sony Pictures Paramount/DW Genius/Weinstein Lionsgate 30.00% 25.24% 21.24% 21.23% 18.02% 17.57% 16.44% 15.59% 14.52% 14.33% 13.30% 13.22% 13.16% 12.81% 12.39% 11.28% 11.20% 11.11% 10.11% 9.92% Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Home Media Magazine February 23–March 1, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.Frys.com
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