Empresas y finanzas

Fox Unveils Worldwide Blu-ray New Release Plans



    Cementing its intention to release at least one state-of-the-art
    title per month, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE)
    today announced worldwide Blu-ray new release plans for the $267
    million global box-office family favorite FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE
    SILVER SURFER (OCT. 2 North America/OCT. 9 International) and the $348
    million global box-office action powerhouse LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
    (NOV. 20 North America/OCT. 28 International) day-and-date with the BD
    release of the DIE HARD TRILOGY. The announcement further supports
    TCFHE's aggressive global Blu-ray Disc release strategy that includes
    29 new release and "must-have" catalog titles from Fox and MGM that
    runs through the end of the 2007 calendar year.

    The only high-definition packaged media universally supported by
    the film, music, gaming and computer industries, BD is the #1 selling
    high-definition packaged media.

    "On a worldwide basis, BD is averaging nearly 70% market-share per
    week of all high definition titles sold this year and, in the U.S., it
    is out-performing HD DVD by 2 to 1; in some territories the ratio is 3
    to 1," noted Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox
    Home Entertainment.

    "Given the retail landscape this holiday season, we expect the
    sales gap between Blu-ray and HD DVD to grow significantly wider as
    the most anticipated films of the year debut exclusively on the
    Blu-ray format."

    "In fact, once our Blu-ray consumers, and those still on the
    fence, experience the advanced BD-J interactivity games available on
    FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD,
    they'll realize what we've been telling them all along - Blu-ray is
    really the only way," continued Dunn.

    FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

    The BD release of the fun and fantastically entertaining sequel to
    the Blockbuster hit, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER
    includes hours of bonus content including deleted scenes, a full
    length "Making Of" documentary, multiple behind-the-scenes featurettes
    and commentaries with two exclusive high definition BD-Java bonus
    features: "Who Dares Defy Galactus?," Fox's first multi-player
    strategy game, and a "Saving The World One Question At A Time" trivia
    game.

    "I'm thrilled that both of my Fantastic Four films are available
    on Blu-ray," noted Director Tim Story. "You can really see spectacular
    detail in the CGI visual effects we used to create the Silver Surfer
    character. Plus, fans of the Fantastic Four will have the added bonus
    of continuing the battle between Galactus and the Silver Surfer
    through the really cool interactive games that are only available on
    the Blu-ray release."

    "Who Dares Defy Galactus?" challenges players to an intergalactic
    battle through a galaxy comprised of 30 planets, 10 of which are
    colonized and have varying levels of life force. Players compete
    against each other as either Galactus, who must find the live planets
    and consume their energy, or The Silver Surfer, who must find the live
    planets and defend them against Galactus.

    If Galactus is victorious, additional solar systems are unlocked
    and the battle for live planets rages on. If The Silver Surfer defeats
    Galactus, the power cosmic never dies and will be waiting to consume
    more planets when players begin the game again.

    Fans of "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" will be put to the
    test to compete for Fantastic Four knowledge supremacy in the "Saving
    The World One Question At A Time" interactive, pop-up trivia game.
    Contestants must correctly answer a series of trivia questions related
    to the Fantastic Four film and Marvel comic book franchise in order to
    defend Earth from Galactus' ravenous appetite. A chain of illuminated
    planets are aligned on the bottom of the television screen. If players
    fail to answer trivia questions correctly to deter Galactus,
    one-by-one the planets will fall dark until the World as we know it is
    destroyed.

    LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (DIE HARD 4.0 Internationally)

    The fourth installment of the established world-renowned Die Hard
    franchise explodes onto BD day-and-date with the DIE HARD TRILOGY and
    features an arsenal of bonus content including a "Die Hard" music
    video by Guyz Nite, a "Making Of" documentary, actor and director
    commentaries and the exclusive high definition BD-Java multi-level
    strategy game "Black Hat Intercept!"

    "Black Hat Intercept!" begins with a warning from 'The Warlock'
    (cult-classic writer, producer and director Kevin Smith) that a
    computer virus has been placed inside an unwitting Internet company's
    mainframe by the infamous cyber-terrorist, Thomas Gabriel. As the team
    leader from inside the surveillance van, players must guide an agent
    into the building, outwit the building's security systems and
    personnel without being detected and then wipe the hard drive clean
    before the virus destroys the U.S.

    Additionally, the BD debut of the DIE HARD TRILOGY comes locked
    and loaded with numerous bonus features including deleted scenes,
    featurettes, actor and director commentaries, visual effect
    breakdowns, alternate endings, side-by-side comparisons and much, much
    more.

    All of the BD titles announced today will be authored in BD-J with
    AVC (MPEG 4) compression and presented on 50 GB dual-layer discs with
    English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio plus English, French and
    Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. In addition to the highest quality
    audiovisual elements, each BD release will also feature D-Box
    compatible motion sensor cues to give D-Box chair equipped viewers a
    more life-like and intense viewing experience.

    Complete title configurations and market release dates will be
    announced by individual territories.

    Blu-ray Disc is a next generation optical disc format developed
    for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A
    single-layer Blu-ray Disc holds up to 25 gigabytes of data and a
    dual-layer Blu-ray Disc holds up to 50 gigabytes of data. This greater
    storage capacity enables the Blu-ray Disc to store over six times the
    amount of content than is possible with current DVDs, and is
    particularly well-suited for high definition feature films with
    extended levels of additional bonus and interactive material.

    Blu-ray also features the most advanced copy protection, player
    backward compatibility with the current DVD format, connectivity and
    advanced interactivity. Fox takes advantage of the next generation
    format's high definition technology and advanced functionality to
    present its titles with the highest quality audiovisual elements.
    Showcasing picture quality with six times the resolution of DVD and
    theater quality "uncompressed" audio for the purest digital sound, the
    cutting-edge discs also feature enhanced and integrated menus, games,
    high-definition bonus materials and Java-encoding for more dynamic and
    sophisticated interactivity.

    The Studio's commitment to emerging technologies is dedicated to
    enhancing the consumer experience of its products and providing for
    backward compatibility with their existing home entertainment
    libraries while also aggressively protecting its intellectual property
    from piracy. The Blu-ray companies fully embrace the Studio's
    steadfast commitment to the fight against piracy and the preservation
    of the integrity of its properties. Twentieth Century Fox is a member
    of the Board of Directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association.

    A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home
    Entertainment LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and
    distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on
    VHS, DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) as well as acquisitions and original
    productions. The company also releases all products around the globe
    for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new
    and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets --
    from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and
    e-commerce -- throughout the world. Twentieth Century Fox Home
    Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film
    Corporation, a News Corporation company.