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.
