Universal Announces Doomsday, Land of the Dead and More

[X-human]

Universal has sent out a press release with their Blu-ray plans:

Universal Unveils Inaugural Slate of Film and TV Offerings Coming to Blu-ray(TM) Disc Day and Date With DVD

Heroes: Season Two Will Mark the Studio's First Global Event Release

Lineup to Include Summer 2008's Most Anticipated Films From Universal Pictures: THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Wanted, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mamma Mia! and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, As Well as Some of the Studio's Other Biggest Titles

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment revealed its initial lineup of film and television properties arriving later this year on Blu-ray(TM) Disc, day and date with DVD, it was announced today by Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Digital Platforms. Marking the rollout of the studio's first global release on Blu-ray(TM) will be the "Heroes: Season Two," which will debut beginning August 26, 2008.

The highly anticipated premier of the sophomore season of NBC's "Heroes" will be buoyed by the simultaneous debut of "Heroes Season One" on Blu-ray(TM). Later in the year and in time for the holidays, five of the year's most promising feature films will arrive in high definition: THE INCREDIBLE HULK, the action-packed new chapter of one of the most popular Super Hero sagas of all time that stars Edward Norton, William Hurt and Liv Tyler; Wanted, the action-thriller from stunning visualist director Timur Bekmambetov that stars Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie; Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the epic vision of imagination from acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro; Mamma Mia!, the musical romantic comedy in which Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in the adaptation of the beloved musical; and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the next installment in The Mummy franchise in which Jet Li, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh and newcomer Luke Ford join the returning Brendan Fraser and John Hannah for a supernatural adventure that shifts the series to the Far East.

"We are thrilled that our preliminary slate of Blu-ray(TM) offerings comprises such a brilliant collection of high-def centric fare," said Mr. Kornblau. "As awareness for Blu-ray(TM) continues to grow, consumers will learn to rely on the superior quality picture, sound, interactivity and connectivity that only high-definition home entertainment delivers."

The first wave of Universal Blu-ray(TM) releases, which hits U.S. stores July 22nd, gives fans of The Mummy franchise a chance to relive the iconic blockbuster films' thrilling beginnings in crystal-clear high-definition. The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, starring Brendan Fraser, and the hugely successful action-packed spin-off The Scorpion King, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, all will be released on Blu-ray(TM) for the first time that day.

The first of Universal's new theatrical Blu-ray(TM) releases hitting store shelves this summer day and date with its DVD counterpart is the apocalyptic thrill-ride DOOMSDAY, starring Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell and Bob Hoskins. Other titles on deck for 2008 include American Gangster, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Miami Vice, End of Days, U-571 and Land of the Dead, among others.

Furthering Universal's aggressive rollout of Blu-ray(TM) product globally, Universal Pictures International Entertainment, the company's international home entertainment arm, is concurrently announcing its initial slate of Blu-ray(TM) releases for the international marketplace today.

As the topic would suggest, I'll be picking up Doomsday and Land of the Dead for certain. It's great to finally get a release date from them, shows that there really is some movement and the fact that Land made the press release is a good indication to me that they intend to push out everything they already had on HD-DVD.

[X-human]

Seems people aren't too thrilled about Universal releases...

Anyways it's worth noting that Universal International (overseas distribution) has added a few more titles to thier release list: The Thing, Gladiator and Casino for release this year.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...81adcbe4f57eb4

I hope these are on slate for the US too.

Also DigitalBits reports that Back to the Future is coming in 2009:

[A]t a recent charity screening of Back to the Future, writer and co-producer Bob Gale told fans that Universal has begun planning and preparing a Blu-ray Disc edition of the trilogy (likely for release in 2009) and that the new, remastered digital prints would be used for the discs.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#042208

I held off on buying the SD boxset in anticipation of this release, so I'm happy to hear that it'll be sooner rather than later (as it was on SD).

[KamuiX]

I'll pick up Doomsday...I'm really not interested in anything else (except maybe Heroes Season 2...not gonna re-buy season 1). When they announce Serenity, give me a shout

[X-human]

Here's the official word on the Back to the Future details: http://www.bttf.com/index.php?/weblo...ent_screening/

So that sounds very promising, it's not just a pipe dream of the producer they even screened the new master at the presentation. I don't think I'll go for Jurassic Park or Jaws but the BTTF trilogy is something I'd get.

[Workshed]

Originally Posted by X-human

Here's the official word on the Back to the Future details: http://www.bttf.com/index.php?/weblo...ent_screening/

So that sounds very promising, it's not just a pipe dream of the producer they even screened the new master at the presentation. I don't think I'll go for Jurassic Park or Jaws but the BTTF trilogy is something I'd get.

OT: Can anyone expand on this quote, please?

Later in the discussion, an audience member asked Gale the eventual question of whether the infamous Eric Stoltz footage would be seen on Blu-ray.

"No, we get that one a lot — why wasn't it included on the old DVD and why it won't be on the new one. It's because Eric Stoltz is a working actor," Gale explained. "We made a mistake putting him in the movie — it's not his fault. But seeing the footage makes him look bad, and it doesn't make us look too good either. We don't want to put something out there that's gonna make somebody look bad. We didn't destroy the footage — it's still out there and we know it has historical significance. But maybe in another 20 years we can put that out there, but we don't want to anything out there that's gonna hurt somebody."

It makes him look bad, wha?

[Grim]

Great news for those who have been blu-ray exclusive from the start. I'll hold onto my HD-DVD's of the ones I already have, unless new editions are released or the blu-rays are super cheap wayyyyyy down the road.

[X-human]

From Digital Bits:

By the way, in the event we can't get reviews done by street date, it appears that Universal has skimped again on the extras on their Blu-ray titles. John Carpenter's The Thing and Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead seem to have only the audio commentary and Picture-in-Picture options (the previous HD-DVD and DVD releases had a lot more extras). George Romero's Land of the Dead does seem to have some extras, but not all of what was on the previous DVD and HD-DVD has been included (the documentary and a couple other things seem to be missing). Just know that so you don't sell your existing discs in case you wanted to upgrade to Blu-ray, but you also wanted to keep ALL the extras.

Bastards. Amazon's got all three in a boxset for $42 so I figure I'll go for 'em, sell Dawn of the dead and in the end pay about $7 for Land and Thing so that'll be fine with nominal extras.

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by X-human

From Digital Bits:

Bastards. Amazon's got all three in a boxset for $42 so I figure I'll go for 'em, sell Dawn of the dead and in the end pay about $7 for Land and Thing so that'll be fine with nominal extras.

I just read that and was going to post it. No sale from me, as there will def. be double dips of them, and probably sooner then later considering the HD versions had the extras, well at least The Thing did. Not sure about the other two.

Getting really tired of these quick, no effort put into them, Blu Ray discs! Honestly why bother with a new format if you are going to half ass everything. Every day I am finding myself buying a DVD over a Blu Ray version cause of lack of effort. If I can't sell off my old DVD then I'm not interested, I have enough doubles of movies.

And I don't want to hear rants how Blu Ray is all about video and picture. I disagree and feel it should one up DVD in every way, not just some. And good picture and audio is no excuse for laziness!

Oh well, I guess it saves me money as I have a lot to buy the next few months, but I was really looking forward to The Thing release.

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by X-human

From Digital Bits:

Bastards. Amazon's got all three in a boxset for $42 so I figure I'll go for 'em, sell Dawn of the dead and in the end pay about $7 for Land and Thing so that'll be fine with nominal extras.

Not trying to be a jerk here, but where do you think you will sell a Dawn Blu Ray disc for $28? You'll be lucky to get $15 for it, as that's what most of them sell for used around here. Or am I just confused?

[X-human]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Not trying to be a jerk here, but where do you think you will sell a Dawn Blu Ray disc for $28? You'll be lucky to get $15 for it, as that's what most of them sell for used around here. Or am I just confused?

Yeah, you're right I did the math wrong in my head. I was figuring on selling Dawn for $14 and then subtracted that from the total of the other two.

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by X-human

Yeah, you're right I did the math wrong in my head. I was figuring on selling Dawn for $14 and then subtracted that from the total of the other two.

No worries. It's still not bad deal if you are dying to see the movies in High Def. with HD surround though, but I think I can hold out with my DVD's for now, and wait for the eventual double dip. Then I can sell off my standard DVD editions, and put that towards the cost of the upgrades, which hopefully by then they will be even cheaper. It better not take them years to release them right though!