Fox, MGM ready Blu-ray payload

Titles include Silver Surfer, new Die Hard

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 8/20/2007

AUG. 20 | After a slow start in high-definition, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment are now slating Blu-ray Disc titles with a vengeance, slotting 29 releases for the rest of the year, including summer blockbusters Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Live Free or Die Hard.

Through the year, Fox promises six day-and-date Blu-ray/standard-definition DVD releases, and MGM will rollout four. A season of Prison Break also is in the works, marking Fox’s first high-def TV release. The remaining 19 will be library titles from the studios, including many previously benched releases, such as Fox films Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Fly.

Some number of these titles will include advanced interactivity, including Web-enabled BD-Live functionality.

Following the recent completion of BD+, an advanced form of copy protection, Fox and other studios were expected to ramp-up their Blu-ray title output.

Street dates on Silver Surfer, Live Free or Die Hard and Prison Break are yet to be announced. Fox has set a Sept. 5 singles prebook date for Silver Surfer on DVD, and retailers expect the title Oct. 2. The earlier Die Hard films are slated for Blu-ray in November.

However, many street dates have been firmed up. From Fox, Master & Commander and The Day After Tomorrow will arrive on Oct. 2; Edward Scissorhands, From Hell, 28 Days Later and The Fly on Oct. 9; I, Robot on Nov. 13; Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Independence Day and Cast Away on Dec. 4.

From MGM, Robocop and Amityville Horror debut on Oct. 9; Battle of Britain and A Bridge Too Far on Nov. 6; and Ronin on Dec. 4.

The announcement of the Blu-ray title blitz comes on the same day that Paramount and DreamWorks dropped the bombshell that they will release high-definition discs exclusively in the rival HD DVD format going forward.

In its press release, Fox lists reasons why Blu-ray is superior to HD DVD. On a worldwide basis, Blu-ray is averaging 70% market share per week of all high-def titles sold this year, and in the U.S., it is out-performing HD DVD by a margin of 115%, according to Fox.

“Given that Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD DVD all year, and this is the case for any title released by any studio in both formats, we believe that the time is right for us to accelerate our activities and help convert the nearly 60 million high-def households worldwide into Blu-ray households,” said Mike Dunn, president worldwide at Fox. “By the end of this calendar year, there will be expansive availability of technically vibrant releases featuring never-before-seen advanced Blu-ray Java interactivity as well as a broad offering of playback devices at attractive prices that will prove to any doubting consumers once and for all that Blu-ray is the only way.”

Dunn also brought up recent retailer decisions to emphasize Blu-ray, including Blockbuster, Target and BJ’s Wholesale Club.

“Top retailers in North America are choosing to promote the Blu-ray format exclusively in their stores,” he said.