Oscar nominees line up on DVD release slate
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/22/2008
JAN. 22 | One of the leading contenders for this year’s Oscars, No Country For Old Men, is slated to street on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on March 11 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
The movie garnered eight Oscar nominations including a nod for Best Picture. No Country For Old Men is tied with other Best Picture candidate There Will Be Blood as the most recognized film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for 2007.
Paramount Home Entertainment, expected to distribute There Will Be Blood on DVD domestically, has not yet specified its bow at retail.
No Country, whose Blu-ray and DVD pricing isn’t immediately available, also picked up nominations for Best Director, for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and Best Supporting Actor, for Javier Bardem.
Several other films that are gunning for Oscar statuettes will be launching on shelves over next few weeks.
Streeting on Feb. 19 from Warner Home Video is Best Picture nominee Michael Clayton, which also drew nominations for Tony Gilroy for Best Director; George Clooney for Best Actor, Tilda Swinton for Best Supporting Actress, and Tom Wilkinson for Best Supporting Actor.
Following its Oscar inclusion, Warner moved forward the Blu-ray release of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to Feb. 5, a couple of weeks prior to its previously set Feb. 26 date. It will continue to street on standard DVD on Feb. 5. Jesse James, with supporting actor nominee Casey Affleck, rolls out on HD DVD on Feb. 26.
Warner’s In the Valley of Elah, with supporting actor nominee Tommy Lee Jones, launches on Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 19 and on HD DVD on March 11.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Best Actress candidate Cate Blanchett, hits shelves on Feb. 5 and American Gangster, with Best Supporting Actress nominee Ruby Dee, on Feb. 19.
Disney launches Gone Baby Gone, featuring Best Supporting Actress contender Amy Ryan, on Feb. 12.
Notable titles already available on DVD include five-time Disney nominee Ratatouille (released Nov. 6), up for Best Animated Film among other awards;Universal’s Eastern Promises (Dec. 23) starring lead actor nominee Viggo Mortensen; Lionsgate’s Away From Her (Sept. 11) with Best Actress nominee Julie Christie; and HBO Video’s La Vie en Rose (Nov. 13) with Best Actress nominee Marion Cotillard.
Among those Oscar candidates still without publicized DVD street dates are Best Picture nominees Atonement and Juno, from Universal and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, respectively. Fox’s The Savages, with Best Actress contender Laura Linney, also is waiting in the wings, as well as Disney’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which snapped up four nominations, including Best Director for Julian Schnabel.
Click for the full list of nominations on Variety.com.
