Now then… first up today, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has just officially set Mr. Peabody and Sherman for Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD release on 10/14, preceded by the digital release on 9/23. All versions will include 2 featurettes (Tour of the WABAC Machine and Time Travel: Mad Science), a photo gallery, the film’s trailer, music videos from other DreamWorks Animation films and sneak peeks. The Blu-ray versions will exclusively add the 1959 premiere episode of The Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends Show, 5 classic Mr. Peabody & Sherman segments from the original show (including Robin Hood, Leonardo Da Vinci, Louis XVI, William Shakespeare, and Ludwig Van Beethoven), 2 featurettes (History’s Greatest Mysteries: A Dog and his Boy and Peabody’s Paw Print on History), and a pair of interactive games (Time Travel Memory Match and The WABAC Jigsaw Puzzle). Finally, the Blu-ray 3D version will include an exclusive 3D short film starring Rocky & Bullwinkle. You’ll find the cover artwork for the Blu-ray 3D edition below.
Also today, Paramount and CBS have officially announced the Blu-ray disc release of James Clavell’s Shōgun on 7/22. The 3-disc set includes the complete mini-series remastered in HD, along with three hours of extras – everything from the previous DVD release. You’ll get the original 13-part The Making of Shōgun documentary (SD – includes A Novel Adventure, The Cast, Nagashima, Toho Studios, Cultures Collide, The Art of Shōgun, The Erasmus and The Galley, Controversy, The Earthquake, Escape from Osaka Castle, The Blockade, Post Production, and Shōgun Makes History), 3 Historical Perspective featurettes (SD – includes The Samurai, The Tea Ceremony, and The Geisha), and finally audio commentary by director Jerry London on select scenes (SD – includes Blackthorne’s Arrival at the Castle, Blackthorne at Ochiba’s Party, The Crazy Dance, Lord Buntaro Shoots Arrows, Blasting of the Fishing Boats, The Arrival of Toranaga, and Blackthorne Rebuilds His Ship). Again, the cover artwork is below.
Finally today, Warner Home Video has just announced that they’re starting a new line of Diamond Luxe premium Blu-ray releases in “sleek premium Blu-ray packaging” featuring some of their best catalog titles. The first batch is set for release on 9/30 with an SRP of just $24.98 each. Titles include The Green Mile: 15th Anniversary Edition (with the previous extras plus the newly extended version of the Walking the Mile HD documentary), the Gremlins: 30th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition (with the previous extras plus several new featurettes including From Gizmo to Gremlins: Creating the Creatures, Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous: Making Gremlins, a pair of motion comics based on the 1984 books Gremlins: The Gift of the Mogwai and The Last Gremlin, and Hangin’ with Hoyt on the Set of Gremlins), the Natural Born Killers: 20th Anniversary Edition (with the prevoius extras and the new Natural Born Killers: Method in the Madness HD featurette), the Forrest Gump: 20th Anniversary Edition (with all previous extras – no new content), and the Ben-Hur: Two Disc Edition (with bonus “Special Features Disc” of all prevoius extras but no new content).
Warner seems excited about the packaging, judging by their press release which states: “The striking functional design is more sleek and durable than traditional Blu-ray packaging. A super-slim case, only ½” ‘thin’ when completely closed, features an eye-catching photographic image and title treatment. The case opens into a two-fold with two additional impactful images and then again into four panels with a powerful panoramic photo and two slots for the discs... all folding neatly for easy storage.” Here’s what it looks like all opened up…
Okay then. We’d be pretty thrilled too if... say... titles like The Iron Giant and Ladyhawke happened to show up in this at some point. Fingers crossed.
Anyway, here’s a look at the Blu-ray 3D cover artwork for Mr. Peabody and Sherman, the Blu-ray artwork for James Clavell’s Shōgun, and the BD3D art for Disney’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which is set for release on 9/9 – Amazon pre-orders aren’t up yet, so could be Amazon is playing hardball with Disney too)…
See you back here on Monday. Have a great weekend!
- Bill Hunt