Fox to release Sunshine with Blu-ray picture-in-picture

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 10/29/2007

OCT. 29 | LOS ANGELES—20th Century Fox Home Entertainment said it will be the first studio to street a Blu-ray Disc title with picture-in-picture interactivity, with the January 8 release of sci-fi thriller Sunshine.

Fox demonstrated the title’s picture-in-picture feature during the Blu-ray Festival press event here Monday. The BD title will bow day and date with its standard-definition version (prebook Dec. 12), for $39.98 and $29.98 respectively.

In the feature, Sunshine filmmakers talk about the making of the film in a separate video stream that runs concurrently with the movie.

Most Blu-ray players currently cannot play back picture-in-picture features, including the most popular model, Sony’s PlayStation 3. Since launch, all HD DVD players have been able to play picture-in-picture.

However, Fox senior VP Steve Feldstein noted during the demo that several Blu-ray players will be available in coming months with this advanced playback capability.

“There will be players in the market,” Feldstein said.

Sony is expected to soon update PS3 via a firmware upgrade. Samsung’s dual-format player also should be able to play picture-in-picture by the end of January with its own firmware upgrade.

The Blu-ray Disc Assn. has mandated that all new players launched after Oct. 31 be capable of playing picture-in-picture.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment earlier was the first major studio to announce the development of specific picture-in-picture features, for 2008 Blu-ray titles Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But Fox’s Sunshine will be released before those titles.