Warner charges for digital copy on Friday the 13th DVD

Horror movie's Blu-ray version will offer feature for free

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/28/2009

APRIL 28 | Warner Home Video is offering a $1.99 digital copy of Friday the 13th with the title’s standard-definition DVD release, marking a point of difference with the Blu-ray edition, which carries a digital copy on disc for no extra cost.

Friday the 13th will street June 16 on DVD and Blu-ray, day and date with cable/satellite and Web-based video-on-demand services.

This 12th installment of the horror franchise grossed about $65 million in U.S. theaters.

Both single-disc standard DVD versions, Friday the 13th Theatrical Cut and Friday the 13th Killer Cut, are priced at $28.99. The titles feature links to an online digital copy, presumably accessible through individual registration codes received after the $1.99 payment.

The Friday the 13th Blu-ray version, priced at $35.99, embeds the copy on disc for no extra fees.

Studios, including Warner, have been increasingly adding free digital copies to titles to boost their attractiveness. Warner is one of the few companies to now charge for the extra.

Some consumers will likely dislike this pay-for-copy strategy. But Warner earlier confirmed that the most robust users of digital copy are Blu-ray buyers, not DVD purchasers.

With the no-charge digital copy, Warner also further distinguishes the Blu-ray Friday the 13th over its two DVD versions.

As well as the free copy, the Blu-ray version also exclusively features two featurettes, “Hacking Back/Slashing Forward” and “The 7 Best Kills,” plus picture-in-picture trivia and a downloadable sneak peek of upcoming horror movie Trick R Treat. Users also will have the exclusive ability to organize a live online community screening of Friday the 13th with friends who own Web-enabled Blu-ray players.

Warner did respond for comment by deadline.