Disney's National Treasure 2 headed to PSP

Hit will be part of 'Entertainment Pack' bundle announced at E3

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 7/22/2008 10:10:00 PM

JULY 22 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will release National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets for the Sony PlayStation Portable handheld console this fall, after about two years of inactivity on the format.

National Treasure 2 will be one part of a PSP hardware/software bundle set to street in October. Priced at $199, this ‘Entertainment Pack’ will hold a limited-edition silver PSP system, the game Ratchet and Clank Size Matters and National Treasure 2 on Universal Media Disc (UMD), the handheld’s media format. Also included in the pack is a voucher to download the puzzle game Echochrome from the online marketplace PlayStation Store and a 1GB Memory Stick to hold music, videos and photos.

Disney didn’t comment on its PSP plans. The Entertainment Pack was first mentioned during Sony’s E3 press conference earlier this month.

In the past two years, PSP corporate sister Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has been the lone major studio releasing major new films for the handheld. Although all studios initially chipped in with UMDs when the PSP launched in 2005, the handheld system has proven to be more popular as a gaming than film-viewing device.

However, Disney might have been impressed with the PSP’s recent innovations. PlayStation’s new film and TV downloading service, also unveiled at E3, will let you watch content on the PS3 and the PSP. In January, Sony succeeded in licensing several MTV series, including Jackass, Wildboyz and Viva La Bam, for release on PSP.

According to Amazon.com and Disney’s own DVD retail site, some of the studio’s last UMD titles were The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Eight Below, which streeted in April and June of 2006, respectively.