Home Media Magazine - June 8-14, 2008 - (Page 10)

HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com ‘Transformers’ Coming To Blu-ray Sept. 2 Paramount hit finally makes it to BD after controversy last year By Thomas K. Arnold PRODUCT Michael Bay feels vindicated. Paramount Home Entertainment is finally releasing his box office hit Transformers on Blu-ray Disc, nearly a year after the studio’s decision to issue it only on the rival HD DVD format triggered an angry Web tirade from the director. “I’ve been waiting for Transformers to be released on Blu-ray for a long time, and it was worth the wait,” Bay said. He called the Sept. 2 release of the two-disc set “the complete highdefinition package for fans.” “It looks stunning and really allows you to engage with this movie in new ways,” Bay said. “Remember, I told everyone Blu-ray was best.” Last August, when Paramount stunned the industry by announcing it was dropping its support for Blu-ray Disc and would henceforth release films only in HD DVD, Transformers was the flashpoint of the controversy. It was the biggest title Paramount/DreamWorks had in store for the fourth quarter, and a Blu-ray Disc edition had reportedly already been mastered and prepped for release. On his Web site, Bay blasted Paramount’s decision to go HD DVD-only and threatened to not work on the sequel. “I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible,” he wrote. “For [Paramount] to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They are progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me.” Bay subsequently backtracked, writing in a post the next day that he “overreacted” and WARNER BITES INTO ‘LOST BOYS’ DTV, ORIGINAL ON BLU-RAY By Billy Gil DTV Direct-to-video division Warner Premiere has taken on following The Lost Boys, the 1987 comedy thriller about a band of young vampires starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric. Its sequel, The Lost Boys: The Tribe, will be released by Warner Home Video on DVD and Blu-ray Disc July 29. The Tribe is directed by P.J. Pesce and stars Tad Hilgenbrink (American Pie Presents: Band Camp), Angus Sutherland (half-brother of Kiefer), Autumn Reeser (“The O.C.”) and Cory Feldman reprising his role as Edgar Frog. Jamison Newlander and Corey Haim, from the original film, also make appearances. The DTV sequel will be available on single-disc ‘R’-rated and unrated DVDs ($27.95 each) as well as on Blu-ray ($35.99). In conjunction with the release, Warner will release the original The Lost Boys the same day on Blu-ray Disc ($28.99). The BD version will have the same extras as the currently available two-disc special-edition DVD, including commentary with director Joel Schumacher, interviews, featurettes, deleted scenes and a photo gallery. “might be back on” for the sequel. (Principal photography on Transformers 2 was slated to begin June 2.) But he was still reportedly steamed that Transformers only came out on standard DVD and HD DVD, a format doomed to extinction when principal developer Toshiba Corp. threw in the towel Feb. 19. The Blu-ray Disc edition of Transformers that Paramount is preparing will include extensive extras and special features, including a commentary from Bay and two documentaries that provide an in-depth look at the film’s human and robotic stars. Segments include executive producer Steven Spielberg discussing his love for the franchise and the early concept for the movie, a detailed look at the casting process and real-world weapons provided by the military to lend authenticity to the film, and a chronicle of the evolution of the robots from Hasbro toys to big-screen stars. Paramount also will use BD Live technology to give viewers a variety of Web-enabled features. Among them are an onscreen dashboard that provides information about the robots and their weapons, their strength levels, a GPS locator and more; a “Profiler” that allows viewers to access detailed information about the cast, voice talent and filmmakers at any point in the movie; and “Menubots” that can be downloaded from the Web so fans can customize their in-movie menus. “Because of Blu-ray’s expanded capacity, we are able to elevate the bit rate used for the picture as well as present uncompressed audio in the form of Dolby True HD,” said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. ‘SOUTH PARK’ IN HD By John Latchem D irecTV’s 101 Network exclusively premiered the high-def version of South Park: Imaginationland, a trilogy of episodes edited into a film. DirecTV served as the exclusive home of the director’s cut May 30-31. The episodes involve the boys of “South Park” in an adventure with several pop culture characters conjured by the power of the imagination. The director’s cut has been available on standard DVD since March. DirecTV also has the HD version of the “South Park” season-eight premiere, “Good Times With Weapons,” previously available on Microsoft Xbox Live in 2007. TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended June 1, 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 June 1, 2008 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE H I G H -D E F CO M I NG U P STREETING The Bucket List Blu-ray Warner Street Date: 6/10 Heart: Alive in Seattle Blu-ray Image Street Date: 6/10 Jumper Blu-ray Fox Street Date: 6/10 Natural Born Killers Blu-ray Warner Street Date: 6/10 The Other Boleyn Girl Blu-ray Sony Pictures Street Date: 6/10 The Signal Blu-ray Magnolia Street Date: 6/10 Witless Protection Blu-ray Lionsgate Street Date: 6/10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rambo National Treasure: Book of Secrets Rambo Trilogy 300 National Treasure I Am Legend The Golden Compass National Treasure Two-Pack The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch … Blade Runner: Complete Collector’s Edition Superbad 3:10 to Yuma Rambo: First Blood Part II Planet Earth: The Complete Series Rambo III V for Vendetta Blood Diamond Full Metal Jacket Over America Twister Lionsgate Disney Lionsgate Warner Disney Warner New Line Disney Disney Warner Sony Pictures Lionsgate Lionsgate BBC Video Lionsgate Warner Warner Warner Topics Warner 100.00 63.76 23.49 18.46 13.99 13.26 12.79 11.03 10.65 8.66 8.01 7.44 7.31 7.26 6.91 6.31 6.15 5.99 5.69 5.52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Over America* Rambo Trilogy V for Vendetta Twister Blood Diamond Blade Runner: Complete Collector’s Edition Full Metal Jacket 300 3:10 to Yuma Superbad Planet Earth: The Complete Series Rambo: First Blood Part II Rambo III I Am Legend The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch … Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem National Treasure The Golden Compass Rambo National Treasure: Book of Secrets Topics Lionsgate Warner Warner Warner Warner Warner Warner Lionsgate Sony Pictures BBC Video Lionsgate Lionsgate Warner Disney Fox Disney New Line Lionsgate Disney 100.00% 69.23% 67.91% 66.59% 62.17% 59.86% 56.22% 49.28% 45.94% 36.14% 32.42% 26.97% 23.55% 23.22% 22.12% 19.01% 18.23% 18.07% 12.82% 6.74% Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert *Exclusively available on Blu-ray Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert 10 Home Media Magazine June 8–14, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - June 8-14, 2008

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