BBC Video travels Planet to high-def
Documentary to be company's first HD DVD, Blu-ray release
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/11/2007
JAN. 11 | BBC Video has picked $25 million-budgeted documentary Planet Earth: The Complete Collection as its first high-definition release, streeting on standard DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray on April 24.
BBC Video's title showcases some of the best places on Earth.
Distributed by Warner Home Video, which services all BBC titles to retail, Planet Earth (prebook March 20) spans four discs on HD DVD and Blu-ray and five discs on DVD. It’s priced at $78.98 for standard DVD and $99.98 each for HD DVD and Blu-ray.
Planet Earth showcases in high-def film the world’s best places, covering 200 different locations, which were shot by 40 cameramen over the course of five years.
The title, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, has such bonus features as a three-part documentary on the Earth’s future and a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.
Planet Earth is a follow-up for the filmmakers of the similarly epic Blue Planet: Seas of Life.
“This is a huge project for the BBC as a whole,” said Burton Cromer, BBC Worldwide Americas senior VP of consumer products. “We spent years, hundreds of shoots, to find the most amazing, never-before-seen things. This is a fantastic demo project and what every retailer can show [to customers] about what HD DVD and Blu-ray are really like.”
Prior to its DVD bow, Planet Earth will run in an American-edited version, narrated by Sigourney Weaver, on the Discovery Channel and Discovery HD Theater TV networks in March.
