My Two Cents
Friday, 29 April 2016 19:46

Fox sets Martian: Extended for BD/4K on 6/7, Disney bows Zootopia on BD/3D the same day & DEG Q1 2016 data

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All right, I’m still working on that 4K coverage. The delay is not from lack of effort, I assure you. Samsung recently updated the UBD-K8500 player’s firmware, so I’ve been working to see what the result is in terms of player performance.

Meanwhile, we do have some great new 4K and Blu-ray news for you today: 20th Century Fox has just officially announced the 6/7 Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Ridley Scott’s The Martian: Extended Edition (the SRP appears to be $39.99 for either BD or 4K).  [Read on here…]

The 2-disc Blu-ray version will include both the original theatrical cut as well as a new Extended Cut that’s 10 minutes longer. The set will also include 2 hours of all-new special feature content, plus the previous BD special features too. New extras will include audio commentary (by Scott, writer/executive producer Drew Goddard, and author Andy Weir), as well as 3 new documentaries (The Long Way Home: Making the Martian, Dare Mighty Things: NASA’s Journey to Mars, and Journey to Mars 101 Q&A). That last one is video of the live NASA/JPL/Fox event I attended a few weeks back (read more on that here). Audio on the Blu-ray and 4K release will be 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The Ultra HD release will include at least the Extended Cut in 4K (we're checking to see if it has the theatrical cut too), plus the 2-disc Blu-ray version with its extras. You can see the official cover artwork for the Blu-ray release to the left and below. Click on the cover artwork (or here) to pre-order The Extended Edition Blu-ray and here to pre-order The Extended Edition on 4K Ultra HD format (we’ll add the 4K cover artwork as soon as it’s available). Note that no Blu-ray 3D version is mentioned in the studio’s press release, but we’re checking to see if this is accurate, an oversight, or if there may be a Blu-ray 3D version that’s retail exclusive.

Also this afternoon, Walt Disney Studios has announced the Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo, DVD, Digital HD, and Disney Movies Anywhere release of Zootopia on 6/7 (the SRPs are TBA). The Blu-ray versions will include 6 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Zoology: The Roundtables, The Origin of an Animal Tale, Research: A True-Life Adventure, Z.P.D. Forensic Files, Scoretopia, and Deleted Characters), plus 7 deleted scenes (Alternate Opening, Wild Times! Pitch, Alternate Homesick Hopps, Detective Work, Alternate Jumbo Pop, Hopps’ Apartment, and The Taming Party), and Shakira’s Try Everything music video. You can see the cover artwork below.

In other release news, Scream Factory has set Andy Palmer’s The Funhouse Massacre for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/7. Extras will include audio commentary (with Palmer, producer Warner Davis, and actors Clint Howard and Courtney Gains), Popcorn Talk’s Video Commentary (with director Andy Palmer and co-writers/co-stars Ben Begley and Renee Dorian – on the Blu-Ray only), 2 featurettes (A Day on the Set and Production Diaries), and the film’s theatrical trailer.

And in other industry news, the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) is reporting that total U.S. consumer home entertainment spending held steady in Q1 2016 (at $4.6 billion) compared to the same period last year, that more than 80,000 4K Ultra HD discs sold in the first week of the format’s availability (which is double that of the first week of the regular Blu-ray format’s debut), that 1.5 million 4K TVs sold in Q1 2016 (up 210% from the previous year) bringing the total number of 4K sets to more than 7 million, that regular HDTV displays have reached 95% penetration in the U.S. consumer market with an estimated 104 million U.S. homes having at least one HDTV, and that more than 84 million Blu-ray playback devices (including set-top players and game systems) are now installed in U.S. homes.

On the other hand, Deadline Hollywood has a different take on the DEG data today, claiming that the total U.S. consumer home entertainment spending number for Q1 2016 improperly folds in Netflix and other streaming services. That was up 19% to $1.41 billion, but if you pull it out that means regular home video spending actually declined 9% from last year to $3.14 billion. So you know... there’s that.

We’ll leave you with a look at the regular Blu-ray cover artwork for The Martian: Extended Edition and both Blu-ray versions of Zootopia (click on the covers to pre-order on Amazon.com)...

The Martian: Extended Edition (Blu-ray Disc)    Zootopia (Blu-ray Disc)    Zootopia (Blu-ray 3D)

Back on Monday with more. Stay tuned...

- Bill Hunt (@BillHuntBits)

 

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