Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - (Page 10) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com Netflix to Stream in HD By Erik Gruenwedel t takes a laissez-faire attitude toward Blu-ray, but that isn’t stopping Netflix from quietly offering movie streams in high-definition later this month. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company is set to bow about 300 titles for streaming on the Microsoft Xbox 360 possibly in two weeks, in addition to the proprietary Roku-manufactured set-top by the end of the year, said spokesperson Steve Swasey. Tim Twerdahl, VP of consumer products with Roku, confirmed in an online post that the streams will be delivered at “substantially” lower bit rates than Xbox and in 720p resolution. In addition, he said, the Roku user interface will be updated to include more on-screen title selections. Swasey said the HD rollout will be underwhelming due to the number of titles offered and the audio being in standard-definition, not 5.1. I “It’s not a big announcement at all,” Swasey said. “It’s just [putting] an HD stake in the ground.” Last month, Netflix said the overall impact of HD packaged media remained a work in progress as Blu-ray usage continues to be a small percentage of the subscriber base. The service said it expects about 500,000 (5.7%) of its nearly 8.7 million subscribers to be Blu-ray subscribers by the end of the year — generating about $6 million in incremental annual revenue when factoring the recently announced $1 monthly surcharge. Separately, Swasey denied media reports that suggested Netflix was phasing out DVD after it announced in an e-mail it would discontinue selling used titles on its Web site. He said the company decided the resources needed to run that operation were not warranted. “We decided we’re a DVD rental company, not a sales company,” Swasey said. PANASONIC BOWS SUB-$300 BD LIVE PLAYER By Erik Gruenwedel BRIEFS I BRINGING BASEBALL BLU Shout! Factory for the first time will offer the annual Major League Baseball official World Series highlight film on Blu-ray Disc. The 2008 World Series: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays home video, chronicling the Phillies capturing their first championship since 1980, streets Nov. 25 at $19.99 on DVD and Dec. 16 at $29.99 on Blu-ray. Prebook for both is Nov. 14. The Rays captured the franchise’s first American League pennant after 10 consecutive losing seasons since the team began play in 1998. But they were no match for the Phillies, led by Series MVP Cole Hamels, who won the championship in five games. The official Major League Productions footage takes fans behind-the-scenes with intimate interviews with players and coaches and peeks into the clubhouse. Extras include footage from Phillies playoff clinchers, a remix of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” a tour of player Shane Victorino’s home, the World Series trophy presentation, and more. A spokesperson for Shout! Factory indicated discussions are underway to bring in a major celebrity associated with Phila– John Latchem delphia to narrate the film. P anasonic Electronics is offering the DMPBD35K Blu-ray player for $299.95 — among the lowest listed retail prices for a Profile 2.0 Web-enabled unit. The player originally fetched $399.95. When purchased at Panasonic.com, the unit includes two free mail-in Blu-ray movies: Ratatouille and The Nightmare Before Christmas, both from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Amazon.com features the DMP-BD35K for $271.76, which includes free shipping but no movies. Circuit City is offering the player at the same price with $5 off National Treasure, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Similarly priced Blu-ray players from Samsung (BDP-1500) and Sony (BDP-S350) require free firmware upgrades. Bond on Blu-ray By Fred Topel he first wave of James Bond Blu-ray Disc titles from MGM and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment hit stores in anticipation of the Nov. 14 theatrical release of Quantum of Solace. Franchise co-producer Michael G. Wilson marveled at the process that allows even the oldest Sean Connery movies to look brand new. The Blu-ray restorations are in such high detail, they are uncovering details previously hidden by film itself. A film to be included in a future wave of releases revealed a particularly telling detail. T From Russia With Love, Thunderball, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only and Die Another Day. In addition, a new two-disc col“They brought us Man With the Golden Gun,” Wilson said. “In the lector’s edition Blu-ray version of fight, where Bond has a fight with some guys in Egypt, with a belly dancer, there’s one shot where if you go frame by frame, the mirror gets hit and you see everybody: the director, the camera crew, the operators. They’re all standing there looking, but it’s only one frame.” Wilson insisted on preserving the 2006’s Casino Royale was recently released by Sony Pictures Home Encinema history of that goof. “They said, ‘We can take that out if tertainment. The set includes pictureyou like.’ I said, ‘No, no, you’ve got in-picture commentary with Wilson to leave that in. That’s hysterical,’” and director Martin Campbell, plus new featurettes produced by Bond Wilson said. The current wave includes Dr. No, historian John Cork, president of vid- eo production company Cloverland, and recorded in high-def. “We want to shoot with the best possible equipment,” Cork said. “Blu-ray is not a forgiving format.” For Casino Royale, Cork created a documentary about the origins of the Bond character and creator Ian Fleming. Cork also traced the history of adapting Fleming’s 1953 Casino Royale novel, from a 1954 TV special to a 1967 spoof, through a more faithful version starring Daniel Craig. “Content is king, but it has to be of quality,” Cork said. “You want to have something to say about the film that enhances the audience’s experience.” John Latchem contributed to this story. I WARNER READIES CLASSICS FOR BD Warner Bros. Studios has revealed Blu-ray Disc plans for some of the biggest movies ever. Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz will see Blu-ray releases for their 70th anniversaries in 2009, said George Feltenstein, SVP of Warner Home Video’s classic catalog. “We have a big initiative behind [it],” he said. “It will knock your socks off.” BD Live will help Warner Bros. offer whatever content the studio can’t fit on the disc, he added. An American in Paris and A Star is Born are both being cleaned up for Blu-ray releases. Feltenstein also hinted that the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy could see a Blu-ray release in the near future. – Chris Tribbey TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended November 2, 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 2, 2008 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU- R AY D I S C C O M I NG U P STREETING Kung Fu Panda Para./DreamWorks Street Date: 11/9 Band of Brothers HBO Street Date: 11/11 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Universal Street Date: 11/11 Firefly: The Complete Series Fox Street Date: 11/11 JFK: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Warner Street Date: 11/11 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Warner Street Date: 11/11 PREBOOKING Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! Fox Pre: 11/12, Street: 12/9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Journey to the Center of the Earth The Incredible Hulk Tinker Bell Iron Man Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the … The Polar Express: Presented in 3-D Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum … Transformers The Strangers Planet Earth: The Complete Series 300 Dead Space: Downfall I Am Legend The Nightmare Before Christmas Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition Baraka Batman Begins Halloween The Shining The Happening Warner 100.00 Universal 77.05 Disney 44.50 Paramount 41.94 Paramount 32.65 Warner 18.77 Disney 12.63 Para./DreamWorks 12.40 Universal 11.15 BBC Video 7.56 Warner 7.52 Anchor Bay 7.35 Warner 7.28 Disney 6.75 Sony Pictures 6.05 MPI 5.72 Warner 5.43 Anchor Bay 5.12 Warner 4.98 Fox 4.80 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Baraka Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition 300 Planet Earth: The Complete Series I Am Legend Transformers The Polar Express: Presented in 3-D Halloween Dead Space: Downfall Iron Man The Shining The Incredible Hulk Batman Begins The Nightmare Before Christmas Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the … Journey to the Center of the Earth Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum … The Happening The Strangers Tinker Bell MPI Sony Pictures Warner BBC Video Warner Para./DreamWorks Warner Anchor Bay Anchor Bay Paramount Warner Universal Warner Disney Paramount Warner Disney Fox Universal Disney 86.42% 58.20% 47.86% 45.04% 35.46% 33.85% 25.86% 24.34% 19.79% 19.02% 18.47% 17.75% 17.30% 13.44% 10.29% 10.15% 9.02% 8.30% 7.74% 2.96% *Units sold compared to No. 1 title Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Home Media Magazine November 9–15, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.Panasonic.com http://www.Amazon.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Contents News High-Def News Electronic Delivery News TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 29) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 30) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 31) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 32) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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