Bolt Blu-ray bows two days before DVD

Disney strategy to give high-definition a headstart

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/22/2009

JAN. 22 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will street animated theatrical Bolt on March 22 on Blu-ray Disc only, two days before the DVD bows on March 24, the first time a major new release has debuted on Blu-ray before DVD, according to retail sources.

Disney hasn’t yet officially announced street date information for Bolt, but stores are being told that Disney hopes the early release will drive extra sales for the high-definition format.

Studio sources indicate that Bolt’s early Blu-ray release does not signal a new ongoing trend for Disney. But the studio does hope it will bolster Bolt’s Blu-ray performance.

“This should give some incentive to Blu-ray fans,” said one studio source, but added that, “this is not a strategy that will happen with every title.”

For the most part, studios are streeting major new releases on DVD and Blu-ray at the same time to maximize their retail display.

Bolt, starring John Travolta as the voice of a canine TV hero, was a $112 million-grossing hit at the box office and should play a key part in retailers’ first-quarter performances. It does have some competition, though, with MGM Home Entertainment’s $168 million-grossing Quantum of Solace, streeting on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24.

Retailers support boosting promotional and merchandising efforts for the high-definition format but worry that the biggest effect of an early Blu-ray launch will be store and consumer confusion.

Disney’s “thought process is that, if we let the Blu-ray out a few days early, people will buy the Blu-ray instead of the DVD,” said a source. “It gives Blu-ray a headstart. But there will be retailers who don’t know what’s coming out when. [Some] will probably break street date” on the standard DVD.